New face in Ikebukuro
by White Belt Writer
Summary: Takes place some time after the anime ends. A girl blows into town and sets off a chain reaction. WARNING! Contains spoilers! Rated T for language/violence/blood and all that goodness found in Durarara!
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: To everyone who reads my other story Before The Past Repeats;_

_Do not panic!_

_I haven't given up on that story yet!_

_Due to a lack of inspiration I just haven't been able to write any new chapters._

_But I **will** eventually._

_Until then, I'll be working on this story, which I hope you will like just as much even if it's from a totally different series._

_Thank you for your support._

_Please read and review._

* * *

><p>New Face in Ikebukuro<p>

Chapter ONE

At an apartment complex in Ikebukuro there is an apartment occupied by two very odd people. They are odd because one is an underground doctor who treats the wounds of those who do not want attention-

And the other one has no head.

"Ha ha ha! Come on Celty, is that the best you can do?" Shinra asks his roommate without taking his eyes off the TV screen.

If Celty's hands were free she probably would have typed something along the lines of [SHUT UP SHINRA!] on her phone or jabbed him in his gut. But since she couldn't, she just tried even harder to defeat Shinra's game character, mashing the game controllers' buttons even harder as if that would make her attacks stronger.

Sadly, her efforts were in vain as Shinra's character eventually stood over hers, arms raised in victory while his controller did the same thing in real life.

"Ha ha! Victory is mine!" The young doctor cheered as he danced in place.

Turning to the Dullahan, who at the moment was slumped forward in defeat, he asks, "Wanna go again?"

Celty automatically perked up, pulled out her cell and typed, [Of course!] shoving the device in his face for emphasis.

Shinra smiles and is getting ready to start the game again when the phone rings. Pouting, the doctor gets up and answers the phone while Celty watches and listens from the couch.

Answering he says, "Moshi-moshi!...Ah, Izaya-kun! How are you?...Yes, I'm fine…..Yeah, she's right here."

The Dullahan's shoulders drop as if she's sighing as she gets up and walks to her room.

Shinra is too busy talking to notice her absence. "I'm sure she'd love to do it! Can you describe the target….Oh, you're sending an email." Sure enough, a 'ping' is heard from Shinra's computer. "Great! She'll be right on it!...Mm-hm. Okay! Bye Izaya-kun!" With that he hangs up.

Turning around, the doctor says, "Hey Celty, you have a-oh, I guess you heard." While he had been talking, Celty had gone and put on her helmet and was ready to ride. "Izaya-kun wants to go and pick up someone for him. You up for it?"

The helmet nods.

Beaming, Shinra exclaims as he walks to his computer, "Great! He's sent us the info in an email." Activating his email, Shinra finds the one in question and opens it. Inside is a picture and list of information about the target.

After reading it over, the doctor prints out the picture and hands it to Celty, who places inside of her jumpsuit.

"Izaya-kun says he wants the target delivered to his place in Shinjuku. They'll be getting off at Ikebukuro Station at 7:20 tonight. That's in half an hour so you better hurry."

Whipping out her phone, Celty types, [Got it. I'll be back soon.]

Smiling and waving as she walks out the door, Shinra shouts, "Good hunting! Buh-bye my love! Hurry back so I can beat you agai-NGH!" His proclamations are cut short by a shadowy smoke that has just barreled into his stomach.

It's work done; the smoke recoils back into the hands of its master as she closes the door, pushes her faithful steed to the elevator, and presses the button for the parking garage. When the doors open again in the garage, the Headless Rider rides out of the elevator, out of the garage, and into the dark night.

She flies down the highway and shoots off a ramp, landing on a street that will take her through the heart and soul of Ikebukuro, to her next job-

And to a world of trouble.

* * *

><p><em>7:26, Ikebukuro Station<em>

The 7:20 train finally arrives at the station, its doors opening to release a hoard of people pushing and shoving, with places to go and people to see.

Sticking out amongst the sea of gray forms is a girl, about sixteen or seventeen years old, standing five foot three, and with slightly tanned skin.

She's wearing well-worn black sneakers with white soles and trim. Her pants are jeans with a wide black band going over her knee on each leg, with a black belt around her waist. She has a white tank top on under a faded blue short sleeve button-up shirt, that is a size too big and unbuttoned. On her back is a patched up backpack that has seen better days.

Atop her head is a mass of wild curly brown hair that she somehow contained into a ponytail. Nestled on top of her hair is a blue and white baseball cap.

The face of the girl is ordinary and extraordinary at the same time. The lips curve into an impish smile and the eyes dance around as they strive to take in everything before them. It is probably the eyes that are the strangest thing about this girl. They seem to be laughing with a childish delight and have a mischievous look about them. Oddest of all about them is that right one is blue and the left one is green.

Shinobu Sora stands off to one side of the station and takes in the scene before her with obvious excitement.

"So this is Ikebukuro, huh? Neat. Wonder what the rest looks like?" That said, Sora puts her hands in her pockets and climbs up a set of stairs that will take her to street level, taking the steps two at a time seemingly without effort.

Reaching the top of the steps and coming up near a three-way intersection, the strange girl stops and looks about her in wonder.

Clueless to the fact that she was being watched and that a wild night was about to begin.

* * *

><p>Celty had been waiting down the street from the train's entrance next to her bike for ten minutes when a crowd began to spill out from its depths.<p>

'_The 7:20 finally arrived, huh?'_ She thinks to herself, _'It's about time.'_

Scanning the crowd, Celty spots a girl in a baseball cap with a grin on her face leaving the entrance. Taking out the paper Shinra gave her, the Dullahan compares the two faces.

'_The pictures a few years old and her hair is longer, but there's no doubt about,'_ She puts the paper away and hops on her bike, _'That's the girl.'_

"Wow! Look at all the lights! Sugoi!" Sora says while turning around in a circle.

Coming to a stop facing the street, she puts her hands on her hips and nods to herself, "This place looks awesome! I've got a good feeling about this!"

As the girl approaches the sidewalk to continue her exploration, she pauses after hearing a noise that she didn't think she'd hear in a city.

'_Huh? Was that a horse?'_ She thinks as the people around her suddenly come alive.

"Wah! It's one of the Dollars gang members!"

"The Black Bike of Ikebukuro!"

"Take a picture! Take a picture!"

'_Black Bike? Dollars member? Huh?' _Sora wonders as she turns to look.

Sure enough, coming down the street towards the station was a black motorcycle driven by a rider dressed up all in black, save for a weird cat-like yellow and blue helmet.

The strange tourist watches as the urban legend rides up and stops at the sidewalk right in front of her. The rider, who she realizes is a woman, gets off her bike and walks over to Sora. Reaching her, she pulls out a cell and types on it. When she's done she shows it to the girl.

[Shinobu Sora?]

'_She knows me?'_ Sora thinks, automatically on guard but curious.

"That's me. Do I know you?" She asks the black rider, her head cocked.

More typing. [No. But someone wants to talk to you. Could you come with me, please?]

Smiling, Sora replies, "Thanks, but I'd rather not." Without any warning, the girl drops and rolls to the rider's left, gets back on her feet and charges through the crowd that gather to see an urban legend. Breaking out the group, she dashes across the street, around the corner, and out of sight.

'Damn it! Why can't they ever go quietly!' Celty curses as she places her cell phone into her pocket, hops onto Shooter and begins to chase down her quarry.

* * *

><p>Glancing behind her at the sound of a horse's whinny, Sora is surprised to find that it was the rider's bike that was making those sounds.<p>

'_A bike that sounds like a horse, ridden by a person in black, who wants to take me to meet someone that I probably don't want to meet,'_ the girl muses as she turns back around. Suddenly she laughs out loud.

"Ha ha ha! Ikebukuro is interesting!"

That said; Sora refocuses on bobbing and weaving through the crowd, which is standing still as it watches this odd game of cat and mouse.

* * *

><p><em>AN: And there's the first chapter!_

_Sorry it's so short, but I really wanted to post something and this seemed like a good place to stop it._

_Hope you liked it!_

_Please R&R!_


	2. Chapter 2

_A/N: Chapter two is up!_

_YAY!_

_This one turned out to be pretty long!_

_Please R&R!_

* * *

><p>Chapter Two<p>

"Huff huff-CRAP! This lady is-huff-persistent!" Sora panted as she continued to weave her way through the busy sidewalk of Ikebukuro, her pursuer not far behind.

Risking a glance behind her, the girl saw that the legendary black bike was following her from the street, and that only the masses of people were keeping her from catching Sora.

'_I'm going to run out of crowds at some point, then she'll catch me for sure!' _The fugitive thought before a smile cracked on her face. _'YOSH! Time to take this tour of the city off the beaten path!'_

That said, the youth swerved out of the crowds and down the nearest alleyway. She had just turned the corner into another alley when she heard the horse/bike caterwaul down the previous alleyway, missing the turn.

Sora kept moving and was already down a different alley when the screech of tires sliding on concrete began echoing around her.

Smiling as she rounded another corner, she thought, _'She realizes she missed the turn, but it's too late now!'_ Sora ran down alleys and around too many corners to count until she ended up in an alley that lead to some major street with a sidewalk full of people.

And between her and the sidewalk was a small group of people; three guys and three girls.

Normally, Sora would have just bounded right through them, but something made her pause.

The three guys had surrounded three girls in some school uniforms; one on either side and one in front, causing the girls to press their backs to the wall.

All of the guys wore a scarf of a steel-ish gray color somewhere on their body-

And two of them had tire irons in their hands.

From where she was standing, Sora could just make out what they were saying.

"Come on girls~! Let's go do karaoke somewhere~!"

"Yeah, and while we're at it, maybe we'll _do_ something else-ha ha ha!"

"If we do, then I call the blond on the left! Bwa ha ha!"

The girls were obviously terrified out of their minds, and could only stand there and hold each other tightly.

The one standing in front of them with a scarf on his head, probably the leader, moved forward. Responding to the guy with a scarf on his arm, he said, "In that case, I take the brunette on the righ-GUGH!"

Out of nowhere, something hit the gangster on the head while he was in mid-step, knocking him down on his side.

"How's about you numbskulls pick on someone who can actually fight back?" A voice called. Turning, the guys finally noticed another girl standing in the alley, with a pissed off look on her face.

Sora had seen enough. Without a second thought, she'd popped the lid from a nearby trashcan and had hurled it at the lead guy like a Frisbee.

The rest of the gang just stood and stared at her as their leader struggled to get up.

On his knees, with blood dripping down the right side of his face from where the lid's rim had hit him, scarf-head growled, "Who da hell just did that?"

The third guy, with a scarf on his neck, pointed at Sora. "It was her, Bro! That chick back there!"

Standing up, scarf-head glared at her and demanded, "Just who da hell are you?"

Putting her hands into her pockets, Sora replied in a calm voice, "Just a passing tourist checking out the backstreets of Ikebukuro-" her voice got harder, "And seeing what kind of scum lives here."

Head-scarf made a face where one side of his lip curled up in disbelief, "Heeeh~! Did you just call us scum~? You did, didn't you!"

Smiling without smiling, Sora said, "Eh? You noticed? Wow! You're actually smarter than I thought you were."

Vein throbbing, the leader bellowed, "THAT'S IT! GET HER!"

His friends, who had just been watching up to now and who were wise enough to be wary of a girl who could throw a trashcan lid so hard, threw caution to the wind and charged at Sora with their tire irons raised.

Watching them racing towards her, Sora quickly but calmly shrugged off her backpack and dashed forward.

Surprised by her fast movement, neck-scarf just froze when she got to him. Before he could move to hit her, he felt rather than saw something driving itself into his stomach, then immediately into his chin, sending his face skyward.

Knowing this one was out, Sora moved to arm-scarf before neck-scarf had even hit the ground.

Spinning in place, the tourist drove her right foot into arm-scarf's stomach and as he buckled over in pain, finished him with a back fist from her right hand.

From where he was, head-scarf could only watch as this total stranger took out his guys in just a few seconds, with moves that he could barely follow.

He stood, rooted to the spot, as she finished his guys and just stood there; staring at him from under her hat. Even though her fighting display would be enough to freak anyone out, what sent this gangster over the edge were her eyes.

He could just barely register in this light that they were different colors but that wasn't it. That wasn't what freaked him out so much.

It was that they were so hard and crystal clear, like she had complete and utter confidence in what she was doing.

And they almost seemed to glow with something akin to rage.

Close to pissing himself as he drew a knife, the wimp of a gangster stammered, "D-da he-hell's your p-problem? Wh-what'd we d-do?"

Sora nodded towards the three girls who were still cowering against the wall.

"You're a bully."

In a face that many would say was the face of a demon, she stated, "I _hate_ bullies!"

That sent the gangster over the edge. Something in him snapped, and he randomly charged at the girl, yelling and slashing his knife through the air.

When he was close enough, Sora grabbed the arm that had the knife at the wrist with her left hand and twisted, snapping his wrist. Before the pain even registered in his head, she grabbed his collar with her free hand, moved so her back was to him and threw him over her shoulder and down on the ground-_hard!_

His head bounced off the pavement, and just like that he was out.

The three girls watched in stunned silence as their mysterious savior let go of the gangster and walked down the alley to pick up her bag and walk back, deliberately stepping on each gangster on her way to and fro.

When she reached where the trio was, she stopped and turned to them with a genuinely concerned look on her face.

"You girls okay?"

Speechless, the three girls nodded.

The strange tourist broke out into a grin, "Ah, I'm glad! I made it here in time!" She hooked her thumb behind her towards the three unconscious bodies. With a mischievous look she said, "Those numbskulls are going to be out for a while, so if you want to have a go at them, now's the time!"

The girls just stared at her for a second, then looked at eachother before smiles broke out on their faces and they marched down the alleyway towards their harassers.

"Try not to kill them!" Sora called after them. As the girls began to kick the gangsters, she smiled and said out loud, "Ikebukuro is really interesting!"

With that, the girl calmly put her hands back into her pockets and nonchalantly joined the mass of gray. Relaxed, as if nothing at all had just happened.

* * *

><p>Celty, on the other hand, was anything but relaxed.<p>

'_Damn! I lost her!'_ The Dullahan thought as she rode down the alleyways in search of her target. Reaching the main road again, the headless woman hung her head (or in this case, her helmet) and cursed.

'_Why is it, that every time I get a job from Izaya, that sound sooo easy; it turns out like this!' _

Fuming, the urban legend decided to ride around the area, and hope for the best.

Sadly, she didn't realize that she was riding in the opposite direction of her target.

* * *

><p><em>An Hour Later<em>

Walking down the city streets as she took in the sights, Sora's hands clamped onto her stomach as another growl rippled from it.

"Ahhhh, damn it! Between my stupid metabolism and that fight with the even stupider boys I'm starving again!" Twisting her head side to side as she walked, the tourist/fugitive struggled to find something to eat.

Moving along, Sora paused as she heard a horse whinny from a ways behind her.

"WAH! Crap! I forgot all about her!"

Running and looking behind her at the same time, the girl didn't pay any attention to where she was going, and sure enough-

"OOF!"

She ran into something, or rather, someone.

A very _big_ someone.

Rubbing her head from where she had landed on the sidewalk, Sora tilted her head back to apologize to the person she had run into-

And had to tilt it back even more just to see his face.

Before her was a behemoth of a man; not fat, but very tall and muscular. He was black but was wearing the outfit of a Japanese sushi chef. In his left hand was a stack of papers.

'_WAH! He's huge!'_

The giant black man leaned and with a concerned look asked, "Is you ok?"

Realizing he was talking to her, albeit in broken up Japanese, Sora replied with a smile, "Yeah, I'm ok. Sorry I ran into you!"

The giant broke into a smile. "Is good! Let me help up."

Before Sora could do anything, the giant had grabbed her by her backpack with his right hand and had hoisted her up and onto her feet like she weighed nothing.

"Thanks!"

The man nodded and hit his chest, "My name Simon. Is good to see you again!"

Unperturbed by his way of speaking, she readily replied, "Nice to meet you Simon! I'm-_gurgle grumble_-ha ha, very hungry!" Sora blushed as her stomach growled again.

Simon eyes sparkled with interest. "Oh! You hungry! This not good! You should eat Russian Sushi, is very good!" He showed Sora one of his flyers and indicated the place behind him.

Holding her stomach, Sora beamed, "Heeeh! That's a restaurant! I've never had Russian Sushi before but I'm willing to try anything at least once! Especially when I'm dying of starvation!"

"Starving bad. Sushi good! Come, I give you half off!"

"Really! Alright let's go!"

With that, Simon led Sora into the restaurant.

The doors had just closed behind them, when Celty came zooming around the corner, just barely missing her target.

* * *

><p>After searching for almost an hour, the Dullahan was contemplating what to do next as she skimmed the message board of the Dollars web site when a message caught her attention.<p>

Apparently a Dollars member had witnessed some strange girl in a baseball hat and backpack kick the stuffing out of a group of gangster goons in an alley near where she had lost her target.

'_That's gotta be her!'_ Celty thought as she hopped on her bike and headed back the way she had came.

When she arrived at the alley in question, the headless rider found nothing beside a trashcan lid with a dent on one side, a bit of blood, and a puddle of something she didn't want to fully investigate.

Not knowing what else to do, Celty checked the board again to see if anyone else had seen her. Some responses to the previous message seem to indicate that the girl was last seen heading south-

So that's where Celty went.

* * *

><p>The restaurant was very crowded, every bar stool had someone on it and all the tables had people sitting at them.<p>

Simon sighed as he looked around, "Ehhh, this is no good! My friend needs to sit and eat!"

Sora was getting ready to tell him that she didn't mind getting take out when Simon exclaimed something in what sounded like Russian and ushered her over to a table that had four people sitting and talking at it, two on either side.

Waving, Simon said, "Hello friends! How are you today?"

The people stopped talking and all greeted Simon by name.

"My friend need place to sit. Can she join?"

The only girl at the group leaped up and said, "Yeah sure!" before anyone else could say anything, pulled a seat from the end of the table and placed it between her and the boy next to her.

"Is good!" Simon exclaimed as he pushed Sora down into the seat before she could say anything. "You wait here, and I get you food and drink. Tea ok?"

Recovering quickly, the tourist replied, "Yeah, thanks!"

Simon smiled and moved behind the counter to work on her order. While he did so, Sora got a good look at the people whose table she was now sharing.

The girl who had agreed to her joining them seem to be clad with designer clothes from head to foot and seem to constantly smile. The boy on her other wore a similar smile but wore plain clothes and had a face like a fox. Beside him was a large camping backpack. Across to her left was a guy who gave out the feeling of being the leader and had a black hat lying next to his elbow. The last guy had long hair and was wearing a vest.

The girl started talking again.

"Hi there! Nice to meet you! I'm Karisawa!" She points to the fox faced guy, "That's Yumasaki," the guy with the vest, "Togusa," the leader-like guy, "And that's Dotachin!"

Slamming his fist on the table, the guy growled, "For the last time, stop calling me Dotachin!" To Sora he says in a calmer voice, "You can call me Kadota."

"Nice to meet you guys! The name's Shinobu Sora!" The tourist replied.

"You new around here?" The guy named Yumasaki asks.

Nodding, Sora says, "Yup! Just arrived on the train from Kita just an hour ago."

"So, what brings you to Ikebukuro?" Kadota/Dotachin asks.

"A friend of mine recommended it to me. Said it was a great place to find, and I quote, 'Action, adventure, drama, and all the prettiest girls in the world-aside from the prettiest who just happens to be my girlfriend.' Un-quote." Sora recited, making absurd motions and faces as she did.

"Ooooh~! That was very dramatic~!" Yumasaki and Karisawa said at the same time. "Just like Tamaki from Ouran!" they continued.

"Huh?" Sora was lost.

Togusa spoke up for the first time. "Ignore them. The two of them are otakus and half the don't speak coherent Japanese."

Karisawa pouted/glared at Togusa, "Heeeh~! We do too speak coherent Japanese!"

Yumasaki continued, "It's just that half the time people don't understand what we're talking about."

"That's the same thing!" Togusa yelled.

The two otakus cocked their heads and replied, "Eh, it is?"

"Obviously!"

Without warning, Sora leaped up, grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the jar in the middle of the table, and stabbed at the air to the right of Togusa's head. A 'thunk' was heard above their heads.

As the group stared at her, Sora sat back down, looked at the man behind the counter, smiled, and nonchalantly said, "Mister, I don't think it's good for business to throw knives at people."

Knives!

Looking up, the people at the table noticed that imbedded in the ceiling was indeed a large knife, still quivering after impact.

The man behind the counter calmly stated, "Tell loud mouth that if he did not make such loud noises, I would not have to throw knife at his face."

Realizing the danger he was in, Togusa bowed his head and stammered, "So-sorry. I'll try to keep it down."

Seemingly satisfied with that, the man went back to making sushi.

"He he, leave it to Togusa to piss off a former member of the Russian Mafia." Karisawa joked as if this was normal. Togusa sent her a look that said that it was her fault to begin with, but said nothing for fear of invoking the chef's wrath again.

"Heh~! That guy's in the Russian Mafia?" Sora asked, eyes wide and curious.

"We think he is," Yumasaki answered, "I mean, did you see the way he threw that knife!"

"Which reminds me! How'd you block it like that!" Karisawa asked, leaning in close to Sora.

"Yeah, that was awesome! You were like Clare's Quick Sword technique the way you used those chopsticks!" Fox face said.

Leaning in front of Sora, Karisawa retorted, "Are you kidding? She was more like a member of the Hyuuga Clan, the way she deflected the knife!"

"Actually she was more like…" And they went on and on like that, each one comparing her to something or other. Sora vaguely recognized some of the things they were saying. In the end she decided that they were complimenting her.

Finally, they both slammed their fists on the table and said in unison, "This is beside the point! Tell us where you learned how to do that!"

"Huh? Uh..well-"

"Food is done!"

Sora breathed a sigh of relief, as Simon finally arrived, laden with everyone's food, saving her from having to explain. Placing everyone's food in front of them, Simon left and quickly returned with their green tea.

The second her plate landed in front of her, Sora said, "Itadakimasu!" and immediately dug in.

Watching her put away her food so quickly, Kadota had to comment, "When was the last time you ate something? From the way you're eating it's like you're starving."

Swallowing, Sora replied, "The last time I ate was early this morning-" she pauses, "Or…was it yesterday morning? I can never keep it straight."

"Huh? You haven't eaten since this morning? No wonder you're starving!" Togusa said.

Sora waves her hand, "No, the real reason why I'm so hungry is cause I have a fast metabolism."

"That seems a bit contradictory." Togusa commented while a sweat drop appeared on his head.

"You think? It makes sense to me." Karisawa added.

"Yeah, but your logic makes no sense!" Togusa retorted.

"I guess it would make more sense to say that my metabolism itself is weird." Sora said, trying to smooth things over.

"Yes it would, but it's still weird."

"Of course it's weird, she just said it was." Yumasaki entered the conversation, which went back and forth over what were the definitions of a weird metabolism, and at some point what the actual definition of weird was.

Sora listened for a while and tried to understand what they were going on about, but in the end opted to follow Kadota's lead and focused on eating her sushi.

Eventually the discussion ended, although Sora had no clue about the conclusion, and everyone returned to eating. And like that, the food was all gone and it was time to pay.

As Sora pulled out her wallet and opened it up, a thought occurred to her.

"Ah crap!"

Kadota looked at her. "What's wrong? Don't have enough money?"

"Huh? Oh! No, I have enough. Its just that I forgot to take the wallets of those idiots from earlier!"

"Take their wallets?" Togusa said.

Nodding Sora replied, "Yeah, I found three numbskulls harassing some girls in an alley and beat them up. Normally when I do that I take their wallets but I was so pissed off that I forgot. Damn!"

"But why take their wallets?" this from Yumasaki.

Sora held up two fingers, "Two reasons. One; I believe that if you are bad you have to pay for your crimes, in this case literally. And two; I have no job so that's my source of income."

"Heeeh? But isn't that mugging?" Karisawa asks nonchalantly.

"Normally, yeah. But I only do it to criminals, so it's fine."

"That makes sense!"

"How the hell does that make sense!" Togusa yells again.

"Oi, you two aren't going to start that up again are you? The old man's sharping his knives as we speak." Kadota mentions.

At the look on Togusa's face as he quiets down, Sora can't help but laugh.

"You guys are fun!"

Bowing in their seats, Karisawa and Yumasaki stated in unison, "Thank you, we try our best!"

"Oi, Sora-san." Kadota says seriously.

"Yeah?"

"About these guys, what did they look like?"

Scratching her head, Sora replied, "Uhh, couldn't tell ya. Looked like regular gangster idiots to me."

He perks up a little bit. "How did you know they were gangsters?"

"Because each of them had a colored scarf on them somewhere; one had it on his head, another on his neck, and the third on his arm."

"What color?"

"Mmm, sort of a steely gray color. Why? Do you know them?"

"Only by word of mouth. There's a new color gang in town called the Silver Spades, and all of its members wear scarves like the ones you described."

Togusa spoke up, "I've heard of them. They appeared like a month ago. Word is that they're a gang who were forced to leave their original prefecture because of dealings with the police."

"Really," Karisawa added her two cents, "I heard that they're a new subdivision set up by the Yakuza who're looking for new recruits."

Here comes Yumasaki, "Actually, they've been created by the government in order to control everything from the lowest level up."

Putting a stop to the crazy theories, Kadota stepped in, "Whatever or whoever they are, they are bad news and you should stay away from them, Sora-san." He looked her in the eye for emphasis, "Especially now that you've gone and beat up some of their members."

After hearing all the theories, Sora could only sigh and hang her head, "My first day in a new place, and already I've made another bad enemy. Typical."

Yumasaki and Karisawa look at eachother.

"'Another?'"

"'Typical?'"

"That proves it!" They yell in unison. "You are a main character!"

'_Oh crap! I've set them off again!' _Sora thinks as a sweat drop appears.

"Focus you two. This is serious." Kadota says as he stands up and puts his hat on.

"Now, where are you staying at, Sora-san?" He asks her.

'_Thanks for the save!'_ She thinks, and replies, "I just got here so I haven't found a place yet."

Jumping in, Karisawa says, "Sora-kun can stay with me! I've got room!"

"Heeeh~! Then where will I sleep?" Yumasaki pouts.

Grinning devilishly, Karisawa replies playfully, "One night without me won't kill you!"

Bouncing back quickly, he says, "Ah, ok. Since it's for a good cause!"

"It's decided then." Kadota states, apparently ending the matter before Sora had a chance to say anything.

'_Is it just me or are the people of Ikebukuro kind of pushy? Or maybe it's just the people in this group.' _Smiling and shrugging to herself she thinks, _'Oh well, when in Rome.'_

The arrangements settled, the group split the check, waved good-bye to Simon and the scary chef, and headed outside.

They were getting ready to walk down the street, when an animals' caterwaul suddenly echoed from the other direction.

Karisawa and Yumasaki immediately spun around.

"Wah! It's the black bike!"

"Ah crap! I forgot about her again! That's twice in one night!" Sora exclaimed as she smacked herself on her forehead.

Kadota turned to her, "Eh, you know her?"

Looking down the street, Sora replied, "Sort of, but not in a good wa-crap she spotted me!" Waving to her new friends as she turned away from the sight she said, "Sorry guys, but we'll have to hang out later! Thanks for the food! Bye!"

Before anyone could say anything, Sora was booking it down the street and around the corner, closely followed by the Headless Rider, leaving a slightly stunned group of people behind.

Togusa was the first to recover.

"What just happened?"

"Why was the black bike chasing Sora-kun?" Karisawa asked.

"Should we help her?" This from Yumasaki.

"Who? The black rider or Sora-kun?"

"Sora-kun of course!"

"What do you think, Kadota?" Togusa asked.

After thinking about it, their leader replied, "We'll leave them alone."

The otakus replied simultaneously, "WHAT!"

Before they could get started, Kadota put his hands in his pockets and made his way to Togusa's van, saying, "Look, we know that the black rider is in Dollars and is a decent person, so we know that she won't do anything too bad to Sora-san. And we know that Sora-san can handle herself well in a fight. Besides, whatever is going on is between them, so I say we stay out of it."

With no real argument, the rest of the gang just nodded in agreement, got in the van, and drove off into the night.

* * *

><p><em>'I've got you this time!'<em> Celty thought as she chased Sora through the backstreets of Ikebukuro.

She hadn't been far from Russian Sushi when she checked the message board again and got her next clue.

According to an eavesdropping Dollars member in Russian Sushi, there was a girl sitting at the table behind her who had apparently beaten up three members of some gang called the Silver Spades without a second thought.

When Celty posted a question as Setton about what the girl was wearing and the eavesdropper replied a white shirt, blue button up and a hat, she knew she had found her target again.

Racing back to the restaurant, the Dullahan spotted Sora walking out of it and her steed let out a whinny as she accelerated towards her.

And so the chase began anew.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Sorry if this turned out to be a little boring._

_I hope you liked how i wrote the fight scene._

_Please R&R! ^^_


	3. Chapter 3

_A/N: Hey there! _

_This chapter didn't come out very well._

_Sorry._

_I hope you enjoy it at least a little bit._

_Next time will be better, I promise!_

_Until then, please R&R!_

* * *

><p>Chapter Three<p>

_'Why is it, that no matter where I go, SOMEBODY is either chasing me, trying to kill me, or chasing me _in order to_ kill me!' _Sora mentally ranted as she ran down the back alleys of Ikebukuro. _'All I want to do in life is roam around and see the sights! Is that too much to ask? And yet time after time, I end up being hounded by someone or other!'_

_ 'Speaking of which,' _the tourist thought as she glanced behind herself,_ 'I'm getting really tired of my current 'hounder'.' _

The 'hounder' in question was none other than Ikebukuro's infamous Black Bike, who had been hunting down Sora for over two hours now-

And the rider was getting closer with each passing minute!

Right now, the two of them were in a part of the district that was full of seemingly abandoned warehouses. Sora was doing her best to lose the biker again, but Celty was foiling her at every turn.

Dashing down a new alleyway, the fugitive growled "Enough already!" as her pursuer rounded the corner. This alley was wide enough to fit a car through, had a dumpster, and at the end of it was an old piece of scaffolding, standing at the corner on Sora's right.

When she saw it, Sora considered climbing it to get away from the bike, but quickly discarded the idea. _'I seriously doubt that thing will support me weight, and even if it does, it only goes halfway up a wall that has no windows or ledges; I'd be trapped.' _Staring at the giant scaffold, the strange girl got an idea, and without a second thought made a dash towards what might be her salvation.

Reaching the scaffold, Sora jumped and grabbed one of the metal bars that stood perpendicular to the ground. Twisting her body, she rotated around the support beam like a gymnast on the un-even bars.

Swinging around, just as the black bike was about to pass the scaffolding, the girl yelled "KNOCK IT OFF!" and kicked the rider on the very front of her helmet! Sora felt a slight resistance at contact, before it just 'evaporated' and her leg sailed through space, unimpeded.

Continuing her arc, the tourist let her momentum take her off the bar, and back down the alley from where she had came, sliding on her feet until she stopped. Straightening up, she looks puzzled.

_'That was weird…I know I hit her square in the head…but, I barely felt anything.' _Hearing a 'clank' behind her, Sora turns to see something bounce off the side of the dumpster and roll back towards her. Whatever it was, it was yellow and blue and looked an awful lot like a-

Helmet!

"It's that chicks helmet! But wait…that means…" Turning back around slowly, Sora's worst fear is confirmed when she sees the black rider standing at the end of the alleyway-

Without a head.

* * *

><p><em>'Oh boy, here we go again,'<em> Celty thought as she got off her bike to stand next to the scaffolding and look at her target. She watched as the girl looked at her helmet, and then slowly turn back around to face her.

Watches as she looks back at the helmet.

Back at her.

Notices her face as realization dawns on her.

And braces herself as she holds her head and opens her mouth.

"OHMYGODIKNOCKEDHERHEADOFF! IKILLEDHER!" the girl screams.

_'Huh?'_ the surprised Dullahan thinks. _'What did she say?'_

Seemingly oblivious to the face that Celty is alive and well, Sora began waving her arms and gesturing wildly, all while saying, "WAH! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to kill you just to knock you out! When I said "Knock it off!" just now I meant stop chasing me not I'm knocking off your head! I didn't mean to kill you just to stop you! I wasn't trying to knock your head off! WAH BUT I KNOCKED IT OFF ANYWAY I AM SO SORRY!"

Listening to her targets rants, and understanding about half of it, Celty was a little shocked to realize that this person was more freaked out by the idea that she had killed the rider rather than the fact that Celty was still walking around despite being headless.

_'What a weird girl.'_ She thought to herself.

In the middle of apologizing for the umpteenth time, Celty's helmet, which was still rolling after hitting the dumpster, came to rest upside down against Sora's calf. After glancing at it, the girl stopped her rant mid-sentence and just stared at it for a moment before picking up.

"Ah, it's empty," she said as she examined the helmet. "And there's no blood."

As the girl began shaking the helmet as if that would make the head fall out, Celty thought, _'Here we go. Now she'll found out that I have no head and will really freak out.'_

Her inspections complete, and with no head or blood found, Sora just held the helmet as her head was cocked in thought. After a moment, she turned back towards the Dullahan and asked, with a calm voice, "Hey. Did I kick your head off or did you not have it with you to begin with?"

Surprised by the question, it was a second before Celty reached into her pocket, brought out her cell phone, and typed on it.

Walking closer so that she could read the screen when the rider showed it to her, Sora saw that it said, [I didn't have my head to begin with, although I do have one.]

The girl let out a giant sigh of relief, causing Celty to flinch.

"Wah, I'm glad! For a minute there, I thought I had become a murderer! Ha ha, that would've sucked!" The Dullahan watched, feeling more than a little confused, as her target held her sides with one arm and laugh.

_'She's relieved to know that I didn't have a head? She should be freaking out!' _Using her cell again, Celty typed a question and showed it to Sora, who wiped a tear from her eye to read it.

[Aren't you scared? I have no head!]

Scratching her own head, Sora replied, "I'll admit, I'm a bit surprised that you don't have a head, but I'm definitely not scared." Grinning and thumping herself on the chest, she proclaimed, "It'll take a lot more than a headless rider to scare me!"

Typing rapidly, Celty said, [But I have no head!]

Sora shrugs. "So?"

[THAT'S NOT NORMAL!]

Hand on hips, the girl smiles and says, "I'll agree with you that it isn't normal for someone not to have a head, but I fail to see why it is I should be afraid of that." She cocks her head, "By the way, how is it that you're still alive? And what's that stuff coming out of your neck?"

Ignoring her questions, Celty types, [Of course you should be afraid of someone who doesn't have a head! Especially if they're still moving!]

"Wow, you type fast!"

[FOCUS! I. Have. No. Head! I'm a monster who rides around on a possessed motorcycle in the middle of the night! Everyone who sees me without my helmet is afraid of me! You should be too!]

Shoulders heaving as if she had actually shouted that whole thing, the Dullahan watched as the girl read every line of her text. Finished reading, Sora looks where Celty's eyes would be and said with a straight face, "Do you want me to be afraid of you?"

Freezing at the girl's question, Celty can't do anything but stare at her. Finally she, almost hesitantly types on her cell.

[No.]

With a face like that of a scolding parent, Sora replies, "Then quit going on about how I should be afraid of you! I've seen a lot of scary stuff and 'a-headless-body-that-can-move' is not very high on my list of things that are going to scare me. If I'm not afraid of you now, the odds are I'm not going to be, so quit bugging me about it and just deal with it. 'Kay?"

Staring at this strange girl for a minute, Celty eventually holds out her hands. Guessing at what she wanted, Sora hands her over her helmet, which she takes from her gently and places on her shoulders.

When it's finally in place, the headless rider nods her helmet once.

Seeing that, the tourist breaks out into a huge grin and says, "Great!"

[You do realize that a person would have be out of their mind to not freak out about this situation, right?] Celty types.

Laughing out loud, Sora exclaims, "Guess I'm out of my mind then!"

Typing and holding out her cell phone as she shakes her helmet, Celty says, [You're a strange kid, do you know that?]

"Yeah," she replies, "But in my opinion, that's what makes me so fun!" They both laugh at that, albeit Celty did so silently.

Finally, Sora stopped laughing and said, "Well, it was nice meeting you," as she turned around and walked back down the alley. Looking at Celty and waving enthusiastically, she shouted, "See ya later!"

The headless rider waved back just as hard while thinking, _'What a weird kid…she reminds me a little of Shinra.' _

It was when Sora reached the end of the alley, turned right, and out of her sight that Celty remembered why she was with the kid in the first place.

Cursing, she jumped onto her faithful steed and raced down the alley.

* * *

><p>When Sora heard the sounds of tires on concrete behind her, she also remembered why she was with the headless rider and took off running again.<p>

"DAMN IT! I FORGOT ABOUT THIS PART AGAIN! THAT'S THE THIRD TIME TONIGHT!" She yells to the streets of Ikebukuro, as she once again runs from one of its most infamous urban legends.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Chapter 3 is done!_

_Hope you enjoyed it a little bit._

_Please R&R!_


	4. Chapter 4

_A/N: I'm going to apologize right now._

_This chapter did not come out very well._

_I'm sorry._

_Please R&R anyway._

_Sorry. TT^TT_

* * *

><p>Chapter Four<p>

Weaving up and down the alleys of Ikebukuro, Celty and her faithful steed were gaining ground on their target quickly-

But not quickly enough for Celty's liking.

'_What is with this girl?'_ The Dullahan thought as she tried to keep pace with Sora without outrunning her. _'I would have caught up with anybody else by now-hell! I could have caught someone, let them go, and caught them all over again!'_

Turning down yet another backstreet, Celty internally cried _'ENOUGH!'_ and prepared to call forth her last resort.

* * *

><p>'<em>What was that?'<em> The strange tourist thought, '_Did somebody just yell?'_

While sprinting down the street, Sora glanced back to see who had spoken and instead saw the Black Rider gaining on her and doing something strange.

The headless rider was holding her right arm off to the side, and as Sora watched, something moved down her arm from under her helmet to her hand, where it almost seemed to pool together into a sort of ball shape.

The girl didn't even have time to wonder what it was she was seeing before Celty jabbed her arm forward, launching whatever it was out of her hand-

And straight towards Sora!

Reacting instinctively, the fugitive ducked left down another alleyway. Looking back, she saw a line of black across the mouth of the alley, and watched as the shadow ball returned to the rider like a paddleball on an elastic string.

Chasing her down, the headless rider sent a few more volleys of her shadow ball. Sora watched one that she had just dodged hit a trashcan, wrap itself around the can, and yank it back towards the rider.

'_I see…she doesn't want to hurt me, just catch me.' _Sora thought as she dodged a few more volleys. _'Seeing as she waited until now to do this, it's a safe bet that she's really serious now.' _

While she had been running, the girl had unknowingly run herself into a dead end alley. At the end was a brick wall, easily ten feet tall if not taller.

Upon seeing the wall, she begins grinning impishly.

'_If she's this serious about catching me, then I can get serious about running away!'_

Out loud, Sora yells, "Neat trick, Rider-san! Let me show you one of mine!"

Picking up speed, the girl ran straight for the wall. Without stopping, she planted her right foot on it and with all her strength-jumped up! Shooting her arms up, her hands just barely grasped the edge, but it was enough that she could re-plant her feet and heave herself up and over the wall.

* * *

><p>Skidding sideways, Celty stopped a few feet from the wall, stopping just in time to hear Sora's landing on the other side.<p>

Her voice echoes in the alley, "Hey! Rider-san! Did you know that I'm a free runner? Cool, right?"

The Dullahan cursed as the voice went on. "Sorry to have to ditch you like this, but I'm pretty sure the person you want me to meet is not nice."

'_Bulls-eye,'_ Celty thought wryly.

"Still, it was nice meeting you! Sorry if you get in trouble! Bye!" With that, the sounds of running footsteps could be heard before they slowly faded away.

Cursing in the dead-end, Celty briefly contemplated going over the wall herself but soon dismissed the idea; the space was too narrow for her steed to ride up the walls and she could never just abandon it.

Resigned, the headless rider turned her bike around and sought for another way around the wall.

* * *

><p>Running down the street, Sora couldn't help but laugh out loud at her predicament.<p>

"Ha ha ha! This has got to be the most interesting chase I've ever been in!" Hearing the disgruntled whinny of a horse a ways behind her, Sora smiled and said, "Sorry, Rider-san, but as interesting as this is, it needs to stop. Otherwise, you really will catch me and that would be very bad!"

Turning down the next alley she sees, the girl finds yet another dead-end. However, unlike the last one, this one ended-not in a brick wall-but with a building as tall as the ones along the sides of the alley.

Pausing to catch her breath, Sora looked the alley over and was getting ready to try a different one when she spotted the window.

It was an old window, about three feet wide and four feet tall. Whatever glass or frame that had been in it had long since fallen away, leaving it bare and the room beyond it open to the elements.

It seemed like the perfect place for the fugitive to escape from her pursuer, but there was just one problem.

It was almost twenty feet off the ground, with nothing below it but a smooth concrete wall.

'_I need a place to hide,'_ Sora thought, _'And this is the first opening I've since I got to this part of town.'_

Scratching her head, she tries to think.

'_I could try the other buildings. Most of them have doors on street level. But I'd have to either find one that was open or break one of them down. It'd take too long to find an open door and that black rider would know where I was if I just knocked a door down. That window's my only hope.'_

Backing up out of the alley, Sora looks for anything she can use. Seeing nothing the way she came, the girl looks ahead and sees a dumpster. Running over to take a look, she realizes it's a bit smaller than the one she saw earlier, this one only coming to her chin and only slightly longer. It's half the size of the other one, although it's twice as rusted. On top is a hard plastic lid.

Lifting the lid, Sora is relieved to find that it only has a smattering of beer cans and paper cartons inside along the bottom. Running around the dumpster, she unlocks all of the wheels, noticing that the one on the front left corner is missing.

Moving so that she had the dumpster in front of her, facing the alley with the window, Sora put her hands against its side and pushed.

It didn't budge at first, but when Sora slammed her shoulder against it the rust that had caked onto the remaining wheels cracked apart and with a metallic groan the dumpster began to move.

It was awkward at first; even when nearly empty the dumpster weighed a considerable amount, but eventually it gained enough momentum that Sora could maneuver it in front of the alley. Once it was at the alley's mouth, the girl moved to the dumpster's front and began to back it up all the way down the alley, until it nearly hit the wall.

With about five inches of space between it and the wall, Sora opened the lid all the way until it was leaning against the wall and was right below the window. Between the height of the dumpster itself plus the height of the lid, the distance to the window was halved.

Satisfied that the dumpster was stable, the fugitive moved back to the entrance of the alley. Reaching it, she turned and took up a runner's stance, with her knees bent and her hands on the ground.

In the distance, the black rider's bike could be heard.

"It's now or never," Sora said to herself. Closing her eyes and bowing her head, she could almost feel the rider getting closer.

"On your mark…" she whispers as she crouches even lower.

"Get set…" her body tenses.

"GO!"

Springing forward like a bat out of hell, Sora pounds down the alleyway as hard as she can.

Just before she reaches the dumpster-she leaps!

Her left foot lands on the edge.

She steps again.

Her right foot is on the very top of the lid.

She bends her knees and the lid bends with her weight.

She uncoils like a spring and leaps up, the un-bending lid acting like a springboard to shoot her into the air.

The window looms closer.

Her hands shoot out and-

She makes it!

Her feet scrabbling against the smooth concrete wall, she eventually gets purchase and hoists herself onto the windowsill.

Below her, the lid falls down onto the dumpster, causing a loud booming sound to reverberate throughout the alley.

Catching her breath, Sora briefly wonders if the headless rider heard that, but soon decides it doesn't matter because she won't be here when she arrives.

Getting off the windowsill, the girl finds herself in a blank room with a floor that is covered with bird droppings and a lone doorway opening up to a hallway that goes a few yards before turning left.

Curious, Sora begins to walk out the door, down the hallway, and around the corner.

Not a second later, an animal's caterwaul is heard outside.

* * *

><p>Celty had nearly given up hope of finding Sora again when she heard a strange booming sound coming from a ways just north of her.<p>

'_I'll bet anything that that's her!'_ the Dullahan thinks as she turns her bike around and heads north.

* * *

><p>Walking down hallway after hallway, Sora was just beginning to think she was lost when she heard something.<p>

It was faint, but there was definitely a rumble, almost a roar, coming from the hallway she was in. Moving along cautiously, Sora followed the sound until she came to a door. Putting her ear to it, she confirmed that the sound, which was much louder now, was just on the other side of this door and had a slight echo to it.

Throwing caution to the wind, Sora opens the door and finds herself on a wooden catwalk that hangs in the middle of a huge space.

Closing the door gently, she moves along the catwalk in a crouch, taking in her surroundings.

It's a huge room, with skylights. On her left are some docks for trucks and to her right is a wall mostly taken up by a giant corrugated door.

'_Must have been some sort of delivery company back in the day, but it's shut down now.'_ The fugitive thinks.

'_However,' _she looks below the catwalk, _'That doesn't explain what these guys are doing here.'_

Twenty feet below the catwalk is a crowd of people; the cause of the roar Sora had been following.

There was about fifty of them, if not more, and they were all crowding around the truck docks, looking up at a smaller group of people.

On the dock itself were three couches, forming an open square facing the crowd. Although there was enough room for at least a dozen people to sit, only one guy was seated, right in the middle of the center couch.

In front of the couches, with their backs to the crowd, were three guys; each one bloody and bruised. Looking at them, Sora got the oddest feeling that she had seem them before, although it was hard to tell at the angle she was at.

The three guys were obviously talking to the guy on the couch, and were all talking at the same time. Between the distance and the roar of the crowd, Sora had no clue what they were saying.

After listening to their babbling, couch guy suddenly yelled, "SHUT UP!"

The guys instantly became silent, along with the rest of the room.

Still seated, but obviously pissed off, the couch guy, whom Sora decided was the leader, said, "Let me get this straight! You three were in a fight with some random chick, were armed with tire irons and a knife, outnumbered her three to one AND YOU STILL LOST! WHAT KIND OF SHIT IS THIS!"

'_WAH! It's those numbskulls from earlier!'_ Sora thought, finally recognizing them.

Head-scarf moved forward. "Bu-but Boss! It wasn't our fault! She jumped us!"

'_Like hell I did!'_ The girl cursed as she leaned over the railing to get a better look.

Boss stood up and backslapped head-scarf as soon as he was in range.

"YOU GOT YOR ASS HANDED TO YOU BY ONE CHICK AND YOU HAVE THE BALLS TO COME TO A SILVER SPADES MEETING!"

'_Silver Spades? That's the gang Kadota was talking about!' _Looking through the crowd again, Sora realized that everybody, including the Boss, had on a steely colored scarf.

'_This can't be good,'_ she thought as she continued to listen to the Boss yell at the three numbskulls.

"YOU SHOULD BE OUT HUNTING HER DOWN!"

Crying a little, head-scarf pleaded with the Boss, "We-we're sorry Boss! But as soon as we woke up, dat crazy bitch was long gone!"

'_There's nothing crazy about kicking the butts of some idiotic bullies!' _Sora mentally cried as she leaned out farther. Suddenly, her hat fell off of her head.

Grabbing at it quickly, she had just gotten it when the old railing decided to give way and she fell forward.

Reacting faster than humanly possible, the girl grabbed the railing with one hand while the other clutched at her hat, causing her to hang in midair right over the gang meeting. Amazingly, no one had noticed.

Sighing with relief, Sora replaced her hat and grabbed the railing with both hands. She was just about to pull herself up when-

CRACK!

The railing snapped, causing the fugitive to lose her grip and plummet twenty feet!

Which led to good news and bad news.

The good news was that Sora somehow managed to fall onto one of the sofas below and, although a bit winded, was none the worse for wear.

The bad news was that it was the Boss man's lap, who had just sat back down, that had broken her fall-

And nearly his legs!

Bouncing onto the floor after landing, Sora did a quick check and found that she was fine. Hearing a groan, she looked behind her and discovered the Boss clutching his legs.

"Hey, are you ok?" she tentatively asked.

Head shooting up, Boss screamed, "OF COURSE I'M NOT OK! YOU JUST FUCKING FELL ON ME!

Hearing a gasp from her other side, the girl turned and saw that head-scarf was pointing his finger at her.

"BOSS! THAT'S HER! THAT THE CHICK!"

"WHAT!"

"Uh oh," the girl said, "Time to go!"

Sora stood up and tried to leave, but found herself facing a mini sea of steel scarves, and with all the doors behind her barred off, she was trapped.

"Not good," she mumbles.

Hobbling onto his feet, Boss points at her and bellows "GET HER!"

The sea comes to life, as each member of the Silver Spades draws out a weapon of some kind. The tourist sees tire irons, crowbars, bats, even a golf club, and knives.

Lots and lots of knives.

Any normal person getting ready to be swarmed by fifty weapon wielding gangsters probably would've broken down and cried at this point, but Sora was far from normal.

Instead of freaking out, she simply took in what was going on and contemplated it. Eventually she sighed and scratched her head as she smiled.

"A-cha! Guess there's no avoiding it. If I don't use them, I'm gonna die." Her smile is still there, but her green and blue eyes harden, "And I don't want to die just yet."

Her expression causes the three idiots in front of her to scamper off and let the rest of the gang deal with her, who also pause when they see her.

Sliding her bag off her shoulder nonchalantly and placing it in front of her, Sora zips it open and reaches inside with both arms. The sound of Velcro can be heard from the bag.

Taking her hat off, the strange girl puts it in the bag, before grabbing something and pulling it out.

Standing erect, Sora slides her backpack over to the side and faces the crowd again. They can now see what it is she has.

In each of her hands is a tonfa, each as long as her forearm and a brown so dark it was nearly black.

Spinning the one in her left hand lazily, Sora says to the crowd, "It's been a while since I last used these, so I'll apologize in advanced for any and all broken bones or deaths."

"What was that, you little brat?" A random voice calls out.

"You think you can beat us by yourself?"

The sea of Silver Spades boiled in anger, but before they can charge the dock again, Sora has dashed forward to the edge and leap up above the crowd.

* * *

><p>After the fight, the gangsters would argue about what happened during those first few moments before the fight began. Many would say that as she came back down to earth, she had the face of a demon with a snake for a tongue. Others claimed that her eyes started to glow with a supernatural power that held them in place.<p>

But every single one of the gangsters agrees that as she fell into the crowd, someone yelled, "YOU'RE GONNA DIE!" and she responded;

"Like hell I will!"

* * *

><p><em>AN: Told you it wasn't good._

_Anyway, for those of you who do not know, a **tonfa** is a wooden weapon, usually wielded in pairs, that originated from Asia._

_A tonfa is made from two pieces of wood; a long one and a short on. The short one is inserted perpendicular to the long one, a hands-breadth from one end, forming the handle._

_The batons that the police used to use are a similar shape but how they are used is different._

_It is a good weapon for both offense and defense._

_For more information, check out wikipedia/youtube._


	5. Chapter 5

_A/N: Here's number five! This one came out much better than the last one! ^^_

_Also, special thanks to Aviantei for pointing out my 'tense' issue in the last chapter._

_I have a problem with keeping my tenses straight, but I promise to do better in the future._

_Thanks for the positive criticism!_

_I really appreciate it!_

_Please R&R!_

* * *

><p>Chapter Five<p>

'_This is just great,'_ Celty thought as she rode between the warehouses. She had tried to find the source of the loud bang from earlier, but to no avail.

'_I was a second away from catching that girl and what does she do? She jumps over a wall! Damn that Izaya! He could've mentioned in his email that my target was a free runner!'_

Fuming at the turn of events, the Dullahan takes a hard left onto a wide street, as if by leaving skid marks on the pavement she could relieve herself of her stress.

She had ridden halfway down the street when the headless rider heard something. Stopping her bike, she tilts her helmet as if that would make her hearing better, despite the fact that she has no ears.

'_Were those screams?'_ Celty thought.

Through the stillness of the night, the sounds of yells and numerous thuds could be heard drifting from just a street over from where the black rider was now.

'_There's a fight going on!'_ the Dullahan realized as her steed's wheel spun and carried her down the street and around the corner, _'Maybe that girl's there!'_

Turning onto the street that the noises were coming from, Celty found giant steel rolling doors lining both sides of the road.

Coasting silently along, the headless rider finally came to a stop in front of a door on the right side of the street, where the noise was the loudest.

'_Whatever is happening, it's happening in this warehouse,'_ the Dullahan thought as she hopped off her bike and walked to the giant door. Placing her left hand on it, she could feel it vibrating from whatever was occurring on the other side.

'_She's here. I can feel it.'_

Not bothering to look for another way in, Celty wedged her hands underneath the door's edge and pulled. The door resisted; its wheels had long since been covered in rust. In the end, it was no match for the strength of a Dullahan, and eventually began to slide up.

With a final heave, the black rider sent the door rolling almost all the way open with a loud groan and rattle.

Finally seeing what the door had hidden from her, Celty froze at the sight before her, not believing what it was she saw.

Before her, what nothing short of a battlefield, with a battle still raging upon it.

Scattered all around the huge room were the motionless bodies of at least two dozen people, and in the center, two dozen more were still fighting.

From where she stood at the threshold, Celty had trouble making out just whom it was these people were fighting. All she could see was a crowd of people with steel colored scarves encircled around someone. The Dullahan caught glimpses of an elbow here, a leg there, and then a face-

With brown curly hair and blue and green eyes!

'_It's her!'_ Celty mentally cried.

* * *

><p>Sora was in trouble.<p>

Big time.

She had handled the first wave of Spades with ease; they had been overly cocky fighters and what little skill they had was greatly diminished by their rage at Sora for landing on their boss.

But the rest of the Spades were different.

After seeing the strange tourist's fighting prowess, they had calmed down enough to realize that they should all go at once instead of separately, crowding around the girl and attacking her from multiple sides simultaneously.

In the beginning, Sora had blocked their moves with ease while at the same time taking a few of them down.

However, despite her best efforts, more and more of their attacks were getting through to her and wearing her down. Already she had blood streaming from some cuts, and bruises were starting to form on her arms and legs.

It wasn't helping either that contrary to what she had said earlier, Sora was trying her hardest not to kill any of the gang members she was fighting.

Unfortunately, the Silver Spades were trying to do the exact the opposite.

'_Damn! This is bad,'_ Sora thought as she blocked a bat and dodged a knife stab, _'At this rate, I'm going to run out of energy _long_ before they run out of fighters! Damn damn damn!'_

The tourist struggled to keep up with her attackers, but the stress of being chased by the black rider for so long and the fight itself was beginning to take its toll on her body.

She wasn't going to last much longer.

Spotting a break in the crowd, Sora dashed forward and found herself at the edge of the docking station. Placing the ends of her tonfa onto the concrete dock, she jumped/pushed herself onto the stage-like space, spinning around quickly to face her opponents.

Backing up as the Spades swarmed the dock for the second time that night, Sora surveyed the gang and couldn't help but note how her limbs felt like they were loaded with lead.

She was cursing under her breath when something behind the sea of steel caught her eye. The door to the warehouse, which had been closed when she arrived, was now open wide, but that wasn't it.

No, what had caught her eye was a random dot of yellow that had appeared in the doorway.

Realizing what she was looking at, Sora couldn't help but chuckle.

"That's the fourth time tonight! _Damn._ All those hits to the head must finally be getting to me."

If the members of the Silver Spades had been paying attention to what their target was saying, they might have thought to turn around and see what it was she had seen.

But, they didn't, and so they failed to notice a woman in a black suit and yellow and blue helmet moving towards them-

With a giant scythe clutched in her hands.

* * *

><p>Celty had seen enough of what was going on to realize that if she didn't step in right now, her target wasn't going to make it.<p>

And she was not going to let that happen while she was around.

Summoning her scythe, the Dullahan began to run towards the crowd as it set about to climb onto the docks where Sora was.

Making sure the blade was blunt on both sides, Celty swung from right to left at three gangsters at the back of the crowd. Catching them at their ribs, she followed through and sent them flying straight into the far wall, where they landed in a heap.

At the sound of them landing, more gangsters turned around to find the urban legend of Ikebukuro swinging a big black scythe straight at them. Before they could react, Celty had swiped her shadow weapon-_SWISSH_-sending three more of them flying.

As the Dullahan took out more and more gang members, the crowd began to split in two; one half turned around to face the new threat, and the other continued gunning for the girl on the dock.

Sensing a chance that she might actually make it out of this mess alive, Sora felt a rush of energy and dashed towards the Spades, crying out a war cry every step of the way. She met them head on; literally crashing though them and nearly went over the edge of the dock in her enthusiasm.

And so the battle went on. The gangsters, who had held great numbers just a short while ago, were slowly being dominated until less than ten remained standing. Between Sora's tonfa and Celty's scythe, they had no chance.

Finally, nearly half an hour after the fight had started, the only fighters who remained were the tourist on the dock, and the black biker on the floor. Surrounding both of them were the now immobile bodies of the Silver Spades.

Sora, even bloodier than before, looked around the warehouse to see if anyone else was still in a fighting mood.

They weren't.

Satisfied, the out of breath girl stood with her arms akimbo and flashed an impish grin at her pursuer turned savior.

"Well-_huff_-Rider-no, with that thing it seems-_huff_-more appropriate to call you-_huff_-Shinigami-san," she gestured towards the scythe Celty still holds in her hand, "At any rate, it looks like-_huff_-I one you one. He he, big time."

Celty waved her left hand in front of her as if to say, "don't worry about it" as she hopped onto the dock.

Sora immediately bounced backwards and got into a fighting stance.

Celty froze.

The smile was still there, but the eyes were hard again as Sora said, "Sorry-_huff_-Shinigami-san. I'm grateful for the-_huff_-save, really I am, but-_huff_-there is no way in hell-_huff_-I'm going anywhere with you without-_huff_-a fight."

To herself, the girl thought, _'This is bad. I barely have the strength to stand let alone fight. And running is definitely out of the question. But what choice do I have?'_

Realizing that her scythe was still out, the Dullahan instantly dissolved it and lifted her hands up to show that she meant no harm.

Sora didn't relax her stance. "I appreciate that-_huff_-but it doesn't change the fact-_huff_-that I'm not going-_huff_-with you."

As Celty whipped out her phone, probably to try and convince Sora to come with her, the person in question noticed something off to her left.

* * *

><p>Forgotten as soon as the fight started, the Boss of the Silver Spades had cowered behind the couches, leaving his followers to attack the tourist by themselves.<p>

He had been confident that the gang would defeat the girl, and was about to leap out to finish her off when he spotted the legendary black rider baring down on his gang. Ducking behind the couch again, the cowardly Boss watched as the duo took down the rest of the Spades.

Stunned by this turn of events, it wasn't until Celty got onto the dock that the final Spade had an epiphany. These two girls had taken out an entire gang by themselves.

They were strong.

Hell, they were more than that!

They were _monsters!_

And the person who took them down would be considered the strongest badass ever!

The Boss realized that if he defeated these chicks, no one in Ikebukuro would dare mess with him!

With that, the cowardly, and insanely stupid, Boss crept around to the left side couch, stood up from behind it-

And pointed the gun he'd had in his pocket at the oblivious black rider.

* * *

><p>Sora saw the Boss appear from out of nowhere. In less than in instant, she recognized that he held a gun in his hand.<p>

In less time than that she realized he was aiming it at Shinigami-san.

"LOOK OUT!"

Without thinking, the already bloodied and bruised fighter dashed forward and rammed her right shoulder into Celty's stomach, knocking her back just as the gun went off.

Straightaway, Sora felt an intense pain explode in her left side, right at her lower ribs.

Ignoring it, the girl flipped the tonfa in her right hand so that she was grasping it by the long shaft, regained her footing on the concrete, and sent it flying end over end-

Until it collided end first into the Boss's nose, sending a geyser of blood into the air as he fell back unconscious.

Sora had but a moment to appreciate her shot when the pain from the bullet wound flared up and sent her to her knee, her right hand clutching at the red stain on her shirt.

Celty, recovered from the tackle she received from Sora, moved towards her to help, but the girl raised her remaining tonfa and glared from where she crouched on the dock.

"Back-_huff-_off," the girl growled even as she winced in pain, "I'm-I'm fine!"

The Dullahan got her cell phone again and typed on it, showing the screen to Sora when she finished.

[You're not fine! You're bleeding from at least a dozen wounds, have a patchwork of bruises already forming, and have a gun shot wound!] Pulling the phone back, Celty erased the message and typed a new one. [You need medical attention NOW!]

Shaking her head vigorously, the stubborn girl declared, "No! No-_huff_-doctors! I'm fin-_grrgh!_" she groaned as she tried to stand up and instead sunk back down to the ground.

[You're wounded! Please let me help you!] Celty typed urgently.

The tourist was about to reply again when she paused and tilted her head, as if listening to something. The Dullahan stopped and listened as well.

A sound was drifting to the two figures through the open doorway, from somewhere outside.

It had been faint at first, fading in and out of the human hearing spectrum, but was slowly becoming louder and clearer with each passing second. Before long, both the headless rider and the strange tourist recognized what it was they were hearing.

'_Sirens! Damn, someone must have heard the fight and called the cops,'_ Sora thought as she tried to get up again to no avail.

Sinking back to the ground, the girl's eyes kept flickering between the rider before her and the open door.

'_Damn it! I can't let the cops get me! "They" will find me for sure that way! But I can't move and Shinigami-san is still here! Damn damn damn damn DAMN!'_

While Sora lamented her position silently, Celty had been typing on her phone. She showed the screen to her again.

[You don't want to be here when the police arrive, right?]

Sora just glared at her defiantly.

[Well neither do I. Let me get you out of here! I have a friend who can help you!]

With each second that passed, it was becoming harder for Sora to read Celty's screen even though it was right in front of her.

'_Shit…I'm losing too much blood…gonna pass out…'_

Out loud she said, "No…way…. you'll take me to them…. not going back…never going back…. I will…die first!"

Staring at this girl, who was still so defiant even when she was so beaten down, Celty couldn't help but be impressed.

'_Anyone else would have passed out already from those wounds but she's staying up through will alone. Just who is this child? And more importantly…. what does Izaya want with her?' _

As she looked into Sora's eyes, which were slightly glazed but still alive, Celty made a decision and typed onto her cell.

[Listen, I was hired to take you to someone, someone who wanted to talk to you. But I'm not going to.]

The girl looked at the rider with an expression of disbelief and suspicion.

[I don't know who 'they' are or what they've done to you, but I'm sure that they'll find you easily in a hospital or in a police station, right? I can take you were they won't find you.]

The sounds of the sirens were drawing nearer.

'_If I go with this lady, there's a chance I might be found by them again. But if the police get me…then it's a guarantee they will,'_ the girl thought as she listened to the sirens.

[You are injured. You may die! Please, let me help you!]

Vision getting worse, Sora asked, "How…do I know…that I…can trust…you?"

Celty paused for a moment before typing, [You don't.]

Reading that, the tourist couldn't help but laugh, and ended up doubled over and grunting in pain as she jostled her bullet wound.

The Dullahan knelt down in front of her and held her shoulders lightly as if to ask if she was ok.

Sora lifted her head and stared straight into Celty's helmet, right into the space where her eyes would be and said, "Fine…I'll go with you…but only because…I think…you're a.…good…person…"

With that, the girl's blue and green eyes completely glazed over and she slumped forward onto Celty's chest, as limp as a ragdoll.

Shocked for only an instant, the Dullahan gently pushed her off of her chest and checked her pulse.

'_A bit slow, but still strong. I need to get her to Shinra, now! But first I need to stop the bleeding.'_

After prying her remaining tonfa from her left hand, Celty sent her shadows flowing over Sora's inert body, creating a tight bodysuit that acted as a tourniquet and a black helmet.

Laying her down gently onto her back, Celty moved around the concrete stage, collecting the girl's bag and the tonfa she had thrown at the Silver Spade's Boss. Tossing both tonfa into the bag, she zipped it closed and slid the straps over Sora's shoulder.

Picking her up bridal style, the Dullahan called for her steed as she dropped off the dock. Whinnying, the black motorcycle drove itself into the warehouse, weaving between the motionless bodies of the gang members.

Meeting Shooter half way across the concrete floor, Celty gingerly placed the unconscious girl on the back of the bike before taking her place in front of her. The headless rider positioned the girl's arms around her waist, using her shadows to keep them there.

Satisfied that Sora wouldn't fall off of her steed as she rode, Celty revved the silent engine and sped out of the warehouse and into the night just as the police rounded the corner onto the street.

* * *

><p><em>AN: I'm really happy with how this chapter came out._

_Hope you enjoyed it!_

_Please R&R!^^_


	6. Chapter 6

_A/N: Three words._

_College._

_Is._

_BRUTAL!_

_If you are considering taking five classes in one semester, take my advice-DON'T!_

_You're classes won't bother coordinating with eachother and each one will give you a new assignment no matter what else you have on your plate._

_EVEN IF THEY'VE ALREADY GIVEN YOU STUFF TO DO!_

_Don't get me wrong, college has its fun points, and the teachers are very interesting._

_It just requires you to the stamina of a seasoned triathlon runner in the prime of their carrer._

_I think I'm gonna die. TT TT_

_My problems aside, I apologize for the my updating lately (or lack thereof), but as you can read from above, I've been a bit preoccupied lately as projects begin to snowball._

_Anyway, here's chapter six._

_Please R&R and thank you for reading._

* * *

><p>Chapter Six<p>

Barreling down the highway, Celty could focus on little else besides the fact that the unconscious girl sitting behind her was seriously injured and could die if she didn't get help soon. She could feel Sora's heart beat through her back and prayed every second that it would not stop before she reached Shinra.

'_Keep calm, Celty,'_ the Dullahan thought to herself, _'You need to stay calm and get her to Shinra as fast as you can.'_

'Without_ getting chased by the traffic police!' _She quickly added with a slight shiver.

Twenty long, grueling, minutes later, the Headless Rider finally swerved into the parking garage of her building complex.

Stopping her steed, Celty hopped off and picked Sora up once again, bridal style. Nodding a thanks to Shooter for his work, who then proceeded to park himself, the Dullahan ran towards the stairwell, foregoing the elevator altogether.

Taking the steps three and four at a time, Celty bolted passed floors faster than any mere human ever could empty handed, let alone with an unconscious teenager in their arms.

Finally reaching the top floor, the Black Rider dashed down the hall towards the apartment both she and Shinra shared.

'_Please let him still be home!'_ Celty prayed as she leaned Sora against her shoulder while she unlocked and opened the door with her right hand. When the door opened, she quickly dissolved her shoes and ran into the living room to find Shinra sitting on the couch, watching the news.

"Ah, Celty, you're finally bac-!" Turning around to greet his lover, Shinra stopped when he saw that Celty was holding someone in her arms, was breathing hard, and looked positively frantic.

Immediately grasping the situation, the doctor's face turned serious as he said, "Put her on the couch, I'll get my bag."

Doing as she was told as Shinra went to his office to get his kit, Celty placed Sora's still form onto the couch before dashing to the bathroom to get some towels to put under her.

Shinra returned just as the Dullahan had placed Sora on top of the towels. Kneeling down on Celty's left, the doctor pulled on some rubber gloves and said, "Alright, remove the shadows and lets see what the problem is."

As the shadow clothing dissipated, Shinra couldn't help but whistle.

"I haven't seen anyone with this much blood on them since the last time Shizuo-kun was here," he commented, as he looked Sora over. "Huh? Isn't this Shinobu-san? The girl you were getting for Izaya-kun?" he asked looking at Celty.

Celty, who had taken her helmet off by now, put her hands in her lap and fidgeted, before she finally pulled out her cell and began typing.

[Well…that is….it's…kind of a long…well-look! Can you just help her already!] She shoved it in his face for emphasis.

"Hai hai, I'm on it! But you have to explain it to me later, ok?" Shinra said as he smiled and raised his hands.

Not waiting for a reply, his serious face returned and he said, "We need to strip her-UGH!" he cried out as Celty drilled a punch right into his jaw.

Rubbing where the hit connected, Shinra pouted, "I didn't mean that in a perverted way! I just meant that I need to see the wounds and her clothes are in the way that's all!" His face turned all lovey-dovey. "Besides, I only have eyes for you my lov-GAW!"

Shinra groaned as Celty punched him again, this time in his gut and out of embarrassment.

[JUST GET ON WITH IT!]

Holding his stomach as he waved with his right, the young doctor replied, "Ok, ok…could you please remove her clothes then?"

Slightly flustered, the Dullahan nonetheless summoned her shadows, and with a few deft movements, had slits running down the sides of Sora's clothes, allowing them to be pulled off easily. Her bra and underwear were left untouched.

"It's worse than I thought," the doctor murmured as he rummaged through his bag, producing a needle and a vial of anesthetic, which he then injected into Sora's right arm.

With her lacerations and bruises finally visible Shinra got to work, starting with the bullet wound, which was by far the worst.

Prodding it gently, Shinra, to himself, commented, "Patient has bullet wound on left side of abdomen. Diameter suggests it was a low caliber handgun." With Celty's help, they pull Sora towards them slightly so that Shinra could inspect her back.

"There is an exit wound, meaning the bullet passed all the way through." They lay Sora back down. "Judging by the locations of both wounds, the bullet passed through the patient's body without hitting any of her ribs or vital organs."

Going through his bag again, Shinra pulled out a thing of cleaning alcohol and wipes, and began to clean the area around the wound. Satisfied it was relatively clean, he then took out a curved needle that had a length of thread attached to it.

Turning to Celty, he said, "I doubt the anesthesia has taken full effect yet, so I need you to hold her down for me, ok?"

Doing her equivalent of a nod, Celty got up and moved to the other side of the couch, so that she could hold Sora down without getting in Shinra's way. Placing her hands on Sora's left hip and just below her left breast, the Dullahan gave the young doctor the ok.

Putting his own left hand aside of the wound, Shinra pinched the opening closed as much as he could before inserting the needle at one end of the slit, curving it beneath the girl's skin, and pushing it out again on the other side of the wound, pulling it until the thread finally ran through.

Sora, who had been still up to this point, flinched as the needle punctured her skin the first time, and jerk evener harder when Shinra started on the second stitch. As the young doctor started on the third, Sora's right arm and leg seemed to have minds of their own as they flew through the air-

Aimed at Shinra's head!

They would have connected too, had Celty not caught them at the last second and held them down with her shadows.

Even though Sora was still unconscious, her body fought the Dullahan every second until the anesthesia finally kicked in, which took nearly four minutes. By the time she had calmed down, Shinra had finished stitching both the entry and exit wound of the bullet hole and had started to work on some of the bigger knife cuts on her stomach.

Finishing up on a three inch long but shallow cut, the doctor noted to Celty, "That was strange wasn't it?"

Worried that Sora might strike at Shinra again, even though she was fully down and out, Celty was still holding her down and couldn't answer, but Shinra could guess that she had asked what was strange?

As he cleaned the area around another cut, the doctor nodded at Sora.

"I'm saying it's strange that it took her four full minutes before she finally succumbed to the drug. Most humans would have been out in less than a minute, especially if they're already unconscious."

'_That is strange,'_ the Dullahan thought.

"Yes it is," Shinra replied to Celty's unvoiced comment, "At any rate, the rest of these wounds aren't nearly as bad as I first thought, and won't really need stitches. Can you give me a hand bandaging them up?"

The headless rider hesitated.

Smiling and waving a blood-covered glove, he said, "Don't worry. She's not gonna wake up for another hour or so, and that's without factoring in how much blood she's lost. You can let go of her now."

Persuaded, but still cautious, Celty stopped holding Sora down and helped Shinra apply dressings to all of her wounds. In total, the strange tourist had seventeen cuts, one on her left cheek and the rest on her arms, legs, and torso (four of which had to be stitched), a through and through bullet wound, and more than two dozen various bruises, more of which were forming every minute.

If it hadn't been for Celty's shadow suit and Shinra's assistance, she would have probably died of blood loss.

When the last piece of gauze was finally placed, Celty and Shinra stood beside the couch to admire their handiwork.

Childish Shinra returned as he hugged the Dullahan around the shoulders and said, "Great job Celty! I'll make a nurse out of you yet! Maybe you'll even quit your courier job and come work with me-GAH!"

Once Shinra had recovered from yet another of Celty's blows, the two strange lovers picked up both ends of the towel beneath Sora and used it as a makeshift gurney to carry her into Celty's room. There, the Dullahan pulled out one of her spare futons for the unconscious girl to lie on while Shinra left to get something.

As Celty tucked Sora under the covers, the young doctor returned with a bag of blood hanging from a pole.

"It's a good thing I always keep a few bags of O- type blood for when Shizuo pays us a visit," he commented as he knelt to insert the IV into Sora's left arm.

Celty brought out her phone, [Why does it matter what type it is?]

Smiling, Shinra responded, "It matters, dear, because if I were to give her the wrong blood type, her body would refuse it and she could die."

[So Sora's blood type is O-?]

"I don't know."

[Then why are you giving her O- blood!] The flustered faerie asked.

Hands held up defensively, Shinra explained, "Calm down Celty. It's _because_ I don't know her blood type that I'm giving her O- type. You see, it's the one blood type that is compatible with all of the other types. So, no matter what type she is, her body won't reject it. Get it?"

[Sort of.] In actuality, Celty didn't get it all, but she knew if she said that then Shinra would spend all night lecturing her about it, and she was tired enough as is.

Whether he understood this or not, Shinra decided to drop the subject and followed Celty back to the kitchen, leaving their new houseguest to slumber in peace.

Getting himself a drink from the fridge, the young doctor sat down at the kitchen table and said, "So, exactly how did you go from chasing Shinobu-san to bringing her here. And while you're at it, mind explaining how she got all banged up?"

Knowing she had no choice, Celty went and got her laptop. Placing it on the table, she sat down next to Shinra and began to type out what had happened since she had left their apartment.

* * *

><p>Some time later, the Dullahan finally neared the end of the tale.<p>

[…I followed the sounds of fighting until I found this warehouse. Opening the garage door, I found Shinobu-san fighting right in the middle of the Silver Spades gang! She was using some wooden weapon that I'm not familiar with. Anyway, I jumped into the fight and helped her finish off the rest of the gang. I was trying to persuade her to come with me quietly when this guy popped out of nowhere and tried to shoot me. Before I could do anything, Shinobu-san barreled into me, got hit by the bullet, and knocked the guy out by throwing one of her weapons at his head. Someone must have called the police, because we heard sirens coming. Shinobu-san agreed to go with me right before she passes out. I grabbed her stuff, put her on my steed and raced back here. You know the rest.]

After over half an hour of typing, Celty gave her fingers a rest as Shinra finished reading what she had wrote.

Apparently finished, he said, "Heh~! So that's what happened! Interesting, I'm not sure what's more unbelievable: that she finally agreed to go with you or that she was still willing to fight you even after being bruised, sliced up, _and_ shot at! Not to mention after she had spent a few hours trying to escape you!" he laughed.

[I know. She's kind of a strange kid.] Celty thought back to when Sora had seen her without her helmet.

[She took me being headless in stride-like it was no different from a weird hair style or something.]

"It's almost like she can't be fazed."

Sora's bloodied face flashed through the Dullahan's "mind".

[No. She can be fazed. At the end, when it seemed like I was going to take her to Izaya and she couldn't run or fight, she looked] hesitating, it was a few moments before Celty finally typed [scared.]

Head in hand, Shinra mused, "So she's afraid of Izaya-kun?"

[I don't think she knows who Izaya is yet. But she seems to be under the impression that going with me will take her back to them.]

"Them who?"

[I don't know. She just kept saying that she'd rather die then go back to them.]

The young doctor twisted in his seat to look at where Celty's face would be. After a moment he said, "Why is this bothering you so much?"

It was a long time before Celty finally started typing again.

[It's just that….you didn't see her Shinra. Didn't see how she determined she was to escape. Didn't see how she fought like she was possessed by a demon at the warehouse….You didn't see how she automatically accepted me and spoke to me without a hint of fear or disgust in her voice.]

'_Didn't hear her say she thought I was a nice person after only just meeting me, and not a monster,'_ the Dullahan thought to herself. _'Although she does call me Shinigami-san,' _she added wryly.

[The point is, this girl is a good person, and strong to boot. If there is something, or someone, that could make her look so scared, then whatever it is, it's probably not good.]

Nodding, Shinra replied, "You have a point." After sitting and thinking for a minute, the young doctor finally exclaimed with his usual gusto, "Well! If you think she's a good person, then that's good enough for me, but I have just one question."

[What's that?]

"How are you going to explain this to Izaya?"

If Celty had a head, and therefore a face, she would have face-palmed herself hard enough to leave a mark. In her rush to get Sora some help as fast as possible, the Dullahan had completely forgotten that she had been hired to do a job.

By one of the biggest scum bags in Japan, nonetheless.

As the faerie debated on what to do, Shinra suggested, "For now, let's just let Shinobu-san rest and we'll figure out what to do about Izaya when the time comes."

Thinking it over, Celty silently agreed with Shinra's plan of no-action.

"In the meantime, how's about you and I have shower toge-GUHAH!"

* * *

><p><em>AN: And that's it for today._

_I'd promise to try to update more often, but that sounds like a very empty promise to me, so I won't._

_Fortunately, my semester ends sometime in December._

_Calm down!_

_I have no intention of abandoning my fic for months again!_

_I will update._

_Just not as often as I would like._

_And deifintely not nearly as often as you would like._

_Please bare with me._

_And please R&R._


	7. Chapter 7

_A/N: Nothing new to really report here._

_College is taking up a lot of my spare time._

_Yada yada yada._

_And that whole song and dance._

_Anyway, sorry for yet another slow update._

_Thank you for reading and please review if you have more free time than I do._

* * *

><p>Chapter Seven<p>

It was cold.

Cold and dark.

Sora hated both of these things but not as much as she did when they were combined together.

Like they were right now.

All around her there was nothing but darkness, and hidden within that darkness was something.

Something with fangs.

Fangs that would leap out of nowhere and slice through Sora's skin, draining her of her warmth. Try as she might, Sora could never catch whatever was attacking her; couldn't even see it.

Soon it felt as if every single drop of warmth had been completely and utterly stolen from the girl's body.

But still she fought on against her unseen foe.

Suddenly-everything turned white and Sora found herself strapped to a table. Looking into a bright light, she could just make out the outline of someone standing over her. Someone in a white coat…

With a scalpel in his hand that was bearing down on her chest!

Sora jerked and pulled against the straps, but they wouldn't budge.

She opened her mouth to scream, but no words would come out.

Resigned that this was happening yet again, the tourist squeezed her eyes shut and braced herself for the inevitable first looonng slice.

...

But it never came.

After a few long terrifying minutes, Sora slowly became aware that she was warm. And not just her normal temperature either; she was toasty warm.

Opening her eyes, the girl found herself staring at the ceiling of a room she had never seen before. Looking around as much as she could without moving her head, Sora noted that no one else was in the room with her.

Relieved, Sora tried to sit up but froze when found herself racked with pain.

Thumping back down, the tourist took a few steadying breaths. After most of the pain had passed, she raised her right arm, which hurt, but not as much as her chest, and pushed away the comforter that had been on top of her.

With the thick blanket finally moved, Sora noticed that most of her chest and stomach had been wrapped in gauze. Further exploration revealed more bandages on her arms and legs, and one on her face.

And also that she was only wearing a bra and underwear.

'_What the hell?'_ the girl thought, _'Who put these on me? AND WHERE ARE THE REST OF MY CLOTHES!'_

Fuming over her near nakedness, Sora suddenly remembered what had happened: she had arrived in Ikebukuro, gotten chased by a headless chick, beat up some bullies, had sushi, got chased again, fell into a gang meeting, and had kicked the gang members butts.

Ignoring the pain, the girl gingerly sat up on what she now knew was a futon.

As she examined her bandages and felt each injury hidden beneath them she wondered, _'Well, the fight explains where all of these wounds came from, but then who-AH!' _Sora winced as her fingers found the gun shot wound on her left side. The pain made her remember the gang leader who had hidden behind the couch, pointing a gun at Shinigami-san…and Sora pushing her out of the way!

'_That's right! I saved Shinigami-san. Then there were sirens coming…. we talked…I agreed to go with her, and then…. I must have passed out.' _

Looking at her injuries, Sora said aloud, "She must have done this. But where is she now? More importantly, where am I?"

Now that she could see the room better, the girl saw that it was pretty bare. Judging by the light that she could see through the window it was some time in the morning. A clock on the wall confirmed it to be almost ten. She also noticed that there was a folded up futon to her left.

And just beyond that, sitting against the wall, was her backpack.

Thrilled to see something familiar, Sora forced herself onto her feet, and crossed the floor, one step at a time.

Finally reaching her bag, the girl dropped to her knees and began rummaging through it, checking to see if anything was missing.

'_Okay, here's my spare set of clothes, my hat, my maps,' _she thought as she checked things off of her mental list.

"My tonfa!" She cried lifting the wooden weapons up. Inspecting each one carefully, she noted that besides a few new nicks, and the distinct smell of disinfectant, her pride and joys were just fine.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Sora placed her tonfa back into her bag and proceeded to get dressed in her spare clothes.

Now dressed in a black t-shirt and jeans that had been cut off just below the knee, the tourist padded quietly over to the door and slowly opened it. When it was wide enough, she stuck her head out and listened.

Hearing only silence, she left the room and found herself in what appeared to be an apartment. Walking down the short hallway, she discovered a living room/kitchen/dining room. To her far right was a sliding glass door that seemed to lead outside.

Curious to know where the heck she was, Sora moved over to the glass door, slid it open, and took a step through it.

The girl found herself standing on a small patio, overlooking the city.

"Wah! Check out the view!" Sora exclaimed.

For sure, the view was a breathtaking one. The morning sun glinted off of the various buildings of Ikebukuro, making them sparkle like diamonds.

After taking a few minutes taking in the sites, Sora reluctantly came back inside and closed the door.

"Well, the view is great and the place looks sweet, but I still don't know where Shinigami-san is," she said seconds before she spotted the kitchen again and heard her stomach rumble.

Patting it, she chuckled and said, "Can't wonder on an empty stomach!"

Making her way to the fridge, Sora opened it and began to pour over the contents.

'_There's not much in here. Mostly just random ingredients and such,'_ she thought as she moved on to the pantries. _'Guess she doesn't eat much. Wait…how does she eat? Does she just drop it down her neck?'_ Sora pondered, not knowing that Celty, in fact, didn't eat at all.

"Score!" she cried as she happened upon a cup of instant ramen noodles. Setting it on the counter, she dug through the lower cupboards for a teapot. Finally finding one, she filled it with water and set it on the stove. While the water warmed up, Sora began the hunt for a pair of chopsticks. She found a pair just as the teapot started to whistle.

Pouring the hot water into the cup, Sora stared at the microwave's clock, counting down the three minutes until the noodles were done.

When time was up, the strange girl tore the lid off of the cup and began to shovel the noodles into her mouth, not waiting for them to cool down first.

She was just finishing off the last of the broth when she heard something.

Pausing, Sora stood stock-still and listened carefully.

It was only a second before she realized she was hearing footsteps, followed by the distinct sound of a key being inserted into a lock.

Specifically, the lock of what she assumed was the front door.

* * *

><p>Shinra, exhausted after an emergency call from one of his top patients, unlocked the door of his apartment and opened it.<p>

Closing it, the young doctor slipped off his shoes and made his way into his home.

Stretching he thought, _'Well aren't I Mr. Popular lately. Between Celty bringing Shinobu-san here and the call I received at four in the morning, I've provided medical assistance to almost a dozen people.'_

Tossing his bag on the sofa as he passed it, Shinra recalled the fact that he had a house patient.

'_I better go check on her,'_ he decided, making his way to Celty's room.

Opening the door slowly so as not to wake her, Shinra was shocked to find that the futon that Shinobu-san had slept on was now empty.

Pushing the door the rest of the way open, the young doctored looked around the room, only to find it empty of anyone beside himself.

Crossing his arms and resting his head on his right hand, Shinra thought nonchalantly, _'Well, this isn't good. Shinobu-san is in no condition to move around. So where did she go?'_ He spied Sora's bag leaning against the wall, opened.

'_She must have woken up and gotten her spare clothes out of her bag,'_ walking over, Shinra opened the bag further and discovered the girl's tonfa still inside it.

_'I doubt she would leave without her weapons,' _he realized,_ 'So she must still be in the apartment.'_

Knowing this, the doctor stood up and walked out the room, moving slowly and calmly so as not to startle Shinobu-san.

* * *

><p>As soon as she become aware that someone was home, Sora had made a mad dash out of the kitchen and to the only place she thought she could hide-<p>

The balcony.

She had closed the door just seconds before someone entered the apartment.

When they finally entered her field of vision, Sora realized that this wasn't Shinigami-san like she had hoped, but instead was some guy in glasses-

And wearing a lab coat!

The sight of the coat caused Sora to have a slight flashback to her previous nightmare, and made her remember things that she dearly wished she did not.

'_He's one of them! Crap! Shinigami-san must have lied and taken me to them anyway!'_ Heartbroken at the betrayal, Sora fought to control her breathing.

'_Calm down, calm down,'_ the girl thought as she watched the doctor, _'You're not caught yet. You can still escape!'_

As the doctor began to make his way towards the back hallway, Sora cursed.

'_Damn it! He's going to find out I'm not there! I need to leave now!'_ as soon as he was out of sight, Sora quietly opened the door and began to move towards the front door.

Halfway there, she froze.

Her bag was back in the bedroom.

Along with her tonfa.

Torn between leaving her weapons behind or going back for them, Sora thought over her position.

'_I'm injured, but not so badly that I can't take down one guy. But he might call for back up before I can fully take him out. There's no way I can fight highly trained thugs in this state. Crap!'_

Logically, the girl should have made a run for it right then and there. But the thought of leaving her beloved tonfa behind was just too much to bear.

'_Ah, screw it!'_

Throwing all common sense to the wind, Sora turned her back on the front door and instead crouched down next the couch, right around the corner of the hallway, and waited.

Beyond the threshold, she could hear the doctor enter the room, heard his gasp of surprise when he discovered her gone. He walked over to where she had left her bag.

'_He knows I'm still here.'_

He came out of the room, and began to slowly walk down the hall towards her.

'_Here we go!'_

Just as the doctor was about to walk in front of her, Sora stood up, spun around the corner, grabbed the left side of his head with her right hand, and slammed his head against the wall as hard as she could.

Before he even had time to register what had happened, the girl dropped her hand to his shoulder and pulled him down as she drove her left knee into his stomach. The young doctor left out a gust of air before his eyes rolled into his skull and he went limp, falling ungraciously to the floor.

Sora stood over him for a second, holding her own stomach. The knee strike had pulled her wounds painfully.

After making sure none of her wounds had reopened, Sora kneeled down and rolled the doctor onto his back. Now that she had a closer look at him, the girl saw that his left glass lens had cracked, probably from the impact on the wall.

'_He's out…but not for long,'_ she thought before scurrying back to the bedroom to get her bag.

On her way back, she stopped at the end of the hallway and looked down on her victim in thought.

'_I really should take him out…. he would have done the same to me, given the chance….'_

Staring down at his unconscious face, Sora pondered a few seconds longer before shaking her head vigorously.

Aloud she said, "No. If I kill him now…. then I'm no better than they are."

With that, the girl placed her hat on her head and padded over to the front door.

Slipping on her sneakers that were left next to it, she unlocked and opened the door, walked down the hallway, entered the stairwell, and began the long descent away from the apartment and its sleeping occupant.

* * *

><p><em>AN: And there's chapter 7!_

_What could have happened to Sora to make her fear guys in labcoats so much?_

_Is Shinra okay?_

_What's Celty going to think of all this and where is she anyway?_

_Stay tuned to find out!^^_

_Please R&R._


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: I'M BACK BABY!_

_Sorry it took so long._

_For those of you who haven't checked my profile page, I haven't been uploading new chapters lately because of college finals and whatnot._

_My apologies. TT^TT_

_At any rate, here's the lastest chapter in the NFI saga._

_Sorry for making you wait._

_Hope you enjoy it._

_Please R&R._

* * *

><p>Chapter Eight<p>

_11:30 PM, The Previous night_

After taking a shower, _without_ Shinra, Celty put on her pajamas, logged onto her favorite forum and waited for the inevitable.

Sure enough, within a few minutes the name 'Kanra' appeared on the chat room screen.

(Kanra): Hello there~!

(Setton): Good evening

(Kanra): So~?

(Setton): So what?

(Kanra): So how did your little job go?

Celty braced herself, and entered private chat mode.

(Setton): Not well. _Someone_ neglected to mention that my target wasn't going to come willingly _and_ was a free runner!

(Kanra): Could've sworn I mentioned that in my email. Oops, sorry! XP Did you get her anyway?

(Setton): No, I didn't. I chased her down back streets for almost 3 hours until she finally managed to lose me.

Technically, this wasn't a lie. Celty _had_ chased her for around three hours and Sora _had_ lost her multiple times. The Dullahan just didn't mention the fact that she had found her again.

Or that she was currently asleep in her room.

(Kanra): Aw~! That sucks -)=(- Any ideas on where she is now?

(Setton): After a chase like that? Probably asleep somewhere. I'll look again tomorrow.

(Kanra): Okeydokey~! ^^

Celty "breathed" a sigh of relief. _'Wah…he believed me. Thank goodness.'_

Sadly, her relief was short lived as a new message appeared on the screen.

(Kanra): Well~! Since you failed to bring me my guest, you'll just have to make up for it by doing another job. N~O~W~! ^^

The headless woman could practically see the smug look on Izaya's face as she thought, _'I should've known.'_

(Setton): Fair enough Izaya. What's the job?

(Kanra): This one is easy. You'll be done in two hours, tops! ^^

'_Yeah right.'_

(Kanra): All you have to do is ride over to one spot, pick up a bag, then they'll tell you where to go next. Once there, pick up some stuff and drive it to where they tell you. Finally, you trade your bag for theirs and return to the first spot, and you're done! Simple, right? ^^

'_Sounds straight forward enough….'_

(Setton): All right. I'll do it.

(Kanra): Great! Here's the first address…

After writing down the address and signing off, Celty went to look for Shinra.

She found him in the kitchen, washing Sora's strange weapons in the sink.

Noticing her, the young doctor smiled and waved one of the soap-covered weapons in the air.

"I found them in her bag. I figured she would appreciate me cleaning off the blood. They're called tonfa by the way, a kind of weapon from Okinawa, usually wielded in pairs. This pair is old, but is in very good…condition... Is something wrong?" He asked noticing that Celty seemed to be bummed about something.

Bring out her phone, Celty typed, [Just finished chatting with Izaya. He bought my story about Sora, but wants me to go out on another job right now.]

"Ehhhh, that stinks," Shinra sympathized. "What does he want you to do?"

[Move some goods around. According to him, I'll be done in two hours.]

Smiling his crooked smile, her roommate replied, "Which is Izaya-speak for six, right?"

The Dullahan did her equivalent to a nod.

"So, I guess cuddling in my bed is out of the question right now?"

[Yep] Celty typed dejectedly, too depressed about leaving to even deck the doctor in the gut.

Wiping the soap off of his hands, Shinra stood with his arms akimbo and stated, "Alright. Then I'll just wait up for you to get back!"

Waving her hands back and forth, Celty replied, [You don't have to do that! Who knows how long I'll really be gone! You need your rest!]

Brushing off her worries, her roommate said, "Don't worry about it Celty. I need to stay up and look after our guest anyway, so it's no big deal."

About to type out another argument, the Dullahan stopped when she realized that it was a futile effort, and slumped her shoulders in a mix of defeat and guilt for making him stay up.

Taking a few steps towards her, Shinra wrapped his girlfriend in a hug and felt his heart race when she did the same.

"It'll be fine. You want to help this girl and you are. By doing this job, you'll satisfy Izaya _and_ make Sora safe. That'll make you happy, right?"

Celty "nodded".

"Then I'll do whatever it takes to make sure she's okay. So don't worry about it." Pulling back slightly, Shinra planted a light kiss on Celty's right collarbone that sent shivers down the Dullahan's spine.

Smiling, the doctor continued, "Now, hurry up and go, because the sooner you leave, the sooner you can be back."

Shyly, Celty typed out, [Okay] and went to change out of her pajamas in her room. Before she left the kitchen she turned around and typed, [Shinra?]

"Yeah, lovey?"

[Thank you]

"Always," Shinra grinned.

* * *

><p>As she hung up her clothes in her closet and summoned her shadow suit, the Dullahan checked on her sleeping guest.<p>

Her skin looked a shade paler than it should have been, and there were bruises on the patches of skin that Celty could see. After having her hair tie taken out of her ponytail, Sora's hair was spread out all around her head, looking tangled and messy. Her eyes, although they were closed, darted about like she was having a dream, but by the look on her face, it wasn't a pleasant one.

As she laid sleeping under a comforter with her arm sticking out for the IV tube, Celty couldn't help but notice how fragile Sora looked.

'_Not too long ago, this girl was practically larger than life; taking my heedlessness in stride, fighting an entire gang by herself...but now she…. she seems so small.' _

Crouching down next to her, Celty watched Sora's face and every twitch she made while asleep.

Not knowing what she was doing, the Dullahan's hand reached out and, ever so softly, brushed some of Sora's hair off her forehead. From there she gently smoothed her hair back, as if she was petting a cat.

At her touch, Sora had tensed up for a split second, before relaxing with a sigh and a small smile. Her eyes stopped darting about and her twitching eased up.

As she petted Sora's hair, Celty was amazed at how soft it was. She had thought that since her hair was so curly, the strands would stay up and poke her hand: but instead the curls went down easily as her hand went over them, before popping right back up in a amusing manner.

Looking at her sleeping guest, the Dullahan was filled with the need to protect her, although why and from whom she did not know.

Straightening up, Celty placed her helmet on her neck, and headed out the door to her next job.

* * *

><p><em>3:50 AM<em>

Shinra was bored.

True to his word, he was staying up waiting for Celty to return, watching TV in between checking in on his house patient. So far the progress was good. Last time he had checked, her color had been returning and her breathing had clamed down.

BUT STILL!

"_Sigh_-I know I told Celty it would be no problem, but I didn't expect there to be no problems!" the young doctor moaned as he sat on the couch watching some show.

"Shinobu-san's body is accepting the blood, she doesn't seem to be in any serious pain, and she's sleeping soundly… All of this should make any doctor feel good. _Sigh_- but then again, most doctors weren't intending on using their patients to pass the time waiting for their beloved to return." Shinra said as he glanced at his watch.

"Speaking of patients, it's time to check on mine."

Getting up and stretching, the glasses wearing man made his way to Celty's room.

Checking Sora's vital signs, Shinra decided that she no longer was in danger of dying of blood loss, and removed the IV drip. Taking the stand and empty blood bag out of the room, Shinra had just finished putting it away when his cell phone rang.

Pulling it out of his coat pocket, he answered, "Moshi moshi."

"Ah, Kishitani-san! Sorry if I woke you up, but some of my boys are in need of your assistance," a man on the other end replied.

"Oh? What happened?"

The man growled, "I wasn't there when it happened, but apparently one of my idiots decided to mouth off the guy who was delivering some goods to us. From the sorry state my guys are in, the delivery-guy didn't appreciate it."

"I understand. I'll be there soon." With that, Shinra flipped his phone closed and sighed.

"Well, I did say I was bored."

Making sure Sora was tucked into her futon; Shinra grabbed his medical bag, turned off the TV, and headed downstairs to hail a taxi. On his way down, the doctor couldn't help but think about what the man on the phone had said.

"'-The delivery guy didn't appreciate it' huh?" he smirked.

"Now who does that sound like?"

* * *

><p><em>10:45 AM<em>

'_What a miserable night,'_ Celty griped as she rode the elevator up to her floor.

She mimics Izaya, _'It's an easy job, Celty. Shouldn't take more than two hours, Celty!'_

'_Yeah right.'_

Izaya's "easy job" ended up taking her all over Ikebukuro. Twice!

First she had to ride over to the address the information broker had given her. When she arrived, the men there had given her an empty black briefcase and gave her a new address on the other side of Ikebukuro. When she asked why it had to be this briefcase, they actually gave her a lecture on how the briefcase had to be just right, and this and that, and a bunch of other stuff that she didn't quite understand.

Finally getting them to shut up, she headed to the next address. The people there then filled her briefcase with something and got all huffy when she tried to see what it was. They rudely told her the next location and said that she should trade the case for 650,000 yen.

Carrying a much heavier package now, Celty rode over to the new address, which turned out to be the middle of the park. When she got there, some unruly looking gang members greeted the Dullahan.

Taking the briefcase and looking through its contents, the leader of the group stepped forward and said, "Looks like everything is here. What's Iwagima want for the whole lot?"

Celty typed out the amount the guy had told her.

"SIXTY-FIVE HUNDRED THOUSAND! That's freaking highway robbery! Forget it! We're not paying!" the gangster yelled.

Not really caring either way, the faerie simply shrugged and went to take the case back-

But the gangster had other plans.

"Ohhh~no! You're not taking the goods back with you!"

'_I'm not?'_ Celty wondered and cocked her helmet.

The gangster leaned close to her visor.

"You're gonna ride your pretty little ass back over to Iwagima and tell him we ain't paying a yen over four hundred. And if he don't like it, then he can come over and suck my dick!" his eyes suddenly roved up and down Celty's body.

Licking his lips, he then said, "Come to think of it, how's about you suck on it too? You'd like that, right?" With that, the gangster grabbed Celty's ass with his right hand.

He didn't even have enough time to give it a squeeze before the pissed off Dullahan grabbed him by his collar and flipped him through the air into a tree.

The rest of the gang, after seeing their leader try to fly, and fail, had the idea that they should kick the ass of the one who threw him.

And everything went to hell after that.

Beating up the gang members didn't take more than five minutes, but within that time some _Good Samaritan _decided to call the police and inform them of the of the _gang war_ that was going on in the park.

Celty had just knocked the last gangster out when flashing blue and red lights appeared behind her.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't my favorite monster."

A shiver went down the Dullahan's spine.

'_Oh no!'_

Turning around, the faerie was confronted by a sight that frightened her deeply.

Parked in a row were five traffic cops on motorcycles.

Seated right in the middle was a guy with an x-shaped scar on his right cheek and a scarf around his neck.

'_Kinnosuke Kuzuhara!'_

Arms folded over his chest, Kinnosuke began to explain how someone had reported gang violence in the park.

"And what do I see when I arrive here? A monster beating up some poor, innocent smucks."

'_Poor? Innocent?'_

"By the authority invested in the traffic police-" he pointed at her and smirked,

"-YOU ARE UNDER ARREST!"

As if a switch had been thrown, the once stationary cops jolted into action, all five of them swarming around Celty.

Waiting until the last second, the Dullahan jumped into the air, letting the bike cops pass right under her.

As soon as her feet hit the ground again, she was off, snatching up the case on her way to Shooter.

Reaching him, Celty jumped on and hightailed it out of the park.

Kinnosuke and friends soon gave chase-

And didn't stop for four hours!

It was dawn by the time she had lost them.

Hiding out in an alley to "catch her breath", the faerie decided that it was high time she knew exactly what she was risking her neck for.

Laying the case on the seat of the bike, Celty popped the lid to find it filled with-

'_Video games?'_

Sure enough, the briefcase was packed with video games. Ones' that weren't due to be released for another few months.

Although Celty didn't know this part, nor did she care.

All she knew was that she was going to slug Izaya the next time she saw him.

Closing the case back up, the Dullahan rode across town to the previous address.

She explained to the guy there how the punks had refused to pay the price.

He hadn't been happy about it.

After retrieving his goods, amongst many curse-riddled complaints about "kids these days", he gave her the briefcase back and told her to return it to the first guy.

So she rode across Ikebukuro, _again_, and did just that.

He also hadn't been happy about the situation.

And to add insult to injury, only paid her half of her fee since she "did only half the job".

She didn't really need the money, but Celty prided herself on always doing a good job.

To make matters worse, as she was leaving the man's place, Kinnosuke found her again, and chased her for yet _another_ four hours.

And so, a job that was supposed to take only two hours, ended up taking eleven.

'_ELEVEN!'_ Celty mentally screamed as the elevator finally reached her floor.

As she walked down the hall, she continued to grumble.

'_Damn that Izaya! Him and his _easy jobs_!'_ she seethed.

Reaching her door, the Dullahan took a deep "breath".

'_Calm down, calm down. It's over,'_ she unlocked her door, _'now Shinra and I can-!'_

Celty smacked herself on her helmet.

'_I forgot all about Shinra! That idiot probably stayed up all night waiting for me to get back. Idiot…'_ the faerie thought with a mental blush.

Opening the door, she thought, _'Well, I'd better not keeping him waiting any longer…'_

Stepping into her apartment, the first thing Celty saw was her roommate and lover passed out on the floor.

'SHINRA!' she cried as she darted over to his side, tossing off her helmet on the way.

Cradling him in her arms, Celty checked his vitals and almost cried when she found he was still alive.

Looking him over, she immediately found the lump on his right temple, which was already started to bruise.

She gently shook him, trying to get him to open his eyes, all the while calling his name.

'_Shinra? Shinra! Shinra, please, open your eyes! Shinra!'_

As if he had heard her, the young doctor slowly woke up, and opened his eyes.

Seeing Celty's neck and smoke taking up his entire field of vision, Shinra smiled and said, "Welcome home."

Overjoyed that he was awake, the Dullahan hugged him tightly, causing him to hiss in pain. Instantly loosening her grip, Celty whipped out her phone and typed faster than ever, [Sorry! Are you ok?]

Sitting up as best he could, Shinra answered, "Hai hai, I'm fine. You just hit the bruise on my stomach is all."

Not waiting for his consent, Celty yanked his shirt up to find that a bruise was indeed on his stomach. It hadn't fully formed yet, but she could clearly see that something the size of a soft ball had hit him.

Hard.

Turning back to Shinra, the Dullahan typed, [Who did this? What happened!]

Putting a hand to the bump on his temple and wincing, the doctor tried to remember.

"Let's see…. a few hours after you left, I got a call for some guys who had gotten beaten up by a delivery guy," he smirked at her, and she cringed at the memory.

He laughed, "I thought that might've been you. You really did a number on those guys. It took me until nine o'clock to finish treating them," his face scrunches up in concentration, "I got back here around ten. I went to check on Shinobu-san…and she wasn't there!"

'_WHAT!'_

Gently propping her beloved against the back of the couch, Celty dashed to her room to find that it was, indeed, empty.

Returning to Shinra, she confirmed that Sora was definitely gone.

Nodding, the doctor replied, "Not only that, but I just remembered that she was the one who knocked me out."

At this, the Dullahan froze, before she began to quake with something akin to rage. How dare a mere child, whom she had helped to save, attack her friend, roommate, and lover?

Fists clenched and smoke billowing out aggressively, Celty thought darkly, _'When I get my hands on that girl….'_

Shinra waved the hand he wasn't holding his head with at her.

"Calm down, Celty. I think it was a misunderstanding."

'_A MISUNDERSTANDING?'_ Celty roared, _'HOW IS THIS A MISUNDERSTANDING?'_

He waggled his finger at her, "Inside voice, please. I'm just saying that when Shinobu-san woke up, she found herself in a strange room, in an unfamiliar apartment, and was half naked to boot. That's enough to make anyone confused about the situation, let alone a teenager who had just been seriously wounded and possibly in shock. For that reason, when she saw me, a stranger, she assumed I was an enemy, and thus knocked me out," he winces, "Very effectively I might add."

The faerie's rage simmered down a bit.

'_But still…'_

Shinra smiled, "Look, I get the feeling that if Shinobu-san had really wanted to hurt me, or worse, then she would have done so."

'_That is true. She does seem to know how to handle herself,'_ Celty thought wryly as she remembered the girls fighting prowess.

Grabbing the back of the couch, the young doctor hoisted himself painfully up.

"At any rate, my patient is out wandering the streets with a hole in her side and too many stitches to count," he winced as he straightened up but kept smiling nonetheless, "You need to find her and get her back here, quick."

Celty agreed, her anger more or less gone; but she was hesitant to leave Shinra alone. Especially since he was injured.

He waved his hand at her, guessing her thoughts.

"Don't worry about me, Celty," he said with his trademark smile, "Shinobu-san hit me just hard enough to knock me out. Aside from what are going to be some colorful bruises, I'll be just fine."

The faerie wasn't fully convinced, but she knew from experience that Shinra generally knew what he was talking about.

Making sure her lover was comfortable on the couch with an ice pack on his head, Celty headed down to the garage, hopped on Shooter and began her search for Sora.

For the second time in as many days.

* * *

><p><em>AN: Well?_

_Was it worth the wait?_

_I apologize for the language but it fit the moment and the guy's personality._

_What did you think of the Celty and Sleeping Sora scene?_

_Too much mushiness? Too little?_

_Toss me a bone!_

_Please R&R ^^_


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Sorry for the wait everybody.**

**I get distracted easi- hey a kitten!**

***clears throat* Sorry about that.**

**Anyway, to (sorta) make it up to you, not only did I upload a chapter _buuuuut-_**

**_-_I uploaded a picture for this story as well! ^^**

**I currently using it as a temporary cover to this story.**

**To see the whole thing just go to DeviantArt and search for New Face in Ikebukuro by White Belt Writer.**

**If you guys like it enough, I may be inspired to do more.**

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><p>Chapter Nine<p>

After finally reaching the ground floor and exiting the apartment building, Sora moved as far away from the building, as fast as she could.

Which, when you're covered in cuts and bruises _and_ have a gunshot wound, isn't all that fast.

Slowing down after a while, the tourist sat down on a fire hydrant and thought about what she was going to do next.

"_Haa haa_-this is probably-_haa_-far enough_-haa-_for now," she huffed, wiping her forehead and licking her lips. Looking around, she mumbled, "God I'm thirsty…wonder if_-haa-_there's a vending machine_-haa-_around here?"

Hoisting herself back on her feet after catching her breath, Sora was about to go look for a drink when she heard something over the din of traffic.

Pausing, she cocked her head and listened to a whistling sound that was slowly getting louder and louder.

Twisting from side to side she wondered, "Where the heck is that coming from?"

On a whim, the unusual girl looked up and saw something glinting in the sunlight high above her.

"What the heck..."

Watching the strange object, she noticed it was box-shaped and seemed to be made of metal; it was a second before Sora realized that whatever it was, it was falling down to earth.

More importantly: it was falling straight towards her!

Her reflexes taking over, Sora leapt back just as the box made contact with the ground, cracking itself and the ground on impact.

The people around her all gasped or shrieked in one way or another, before quickly recovering and going about their business, a few muttering something about a crazy bartender or something.

Curious about what the hell had just happened, Sora walked over to the wannabe meteor to see what it was.

As the dust settled, the tourist realized that it was a vending machine: fully stocked too!

The force of the crash had caused its glass panel to shatter, but the plastic bottles within had survived the fall to earth unscathed.

After a quick check for any nearby cops, Sora happily cried, "Lucky~!" and snatched a bottle of green tea from the machine.

Twisting off the cap, she chugged half the bottle before sighing in relief.

"That's the stuff," she said, closing the bottle and stuffing it into one of her bags' side pockets, "I feel much better!"

Refreshed, somewhat, Sora decided that since she wasn't, at the moment, being chased by anyone, she would finally play the role of tourist and actually see the sights of Ikebukuro.

Smiling her impish grin, the girl wandered around, looking at various store window displays and the colorful signs.

At a glance, she would have seemed just like any tourist fresh off the train: innocent, a little naïve, and not looking for any trouble.

Unfortunately, she had a habit of running straight into it.

Walking down yet another colorful street, Sora heard some sort of commotion going on in a smaller side street.

Looking down it, she was greeted by the sight of three bizarrely dressed girls wearing too much make-up and wings on their backpacks, cornering a girl with glasses and big boobs and a skinny looking nervous guy. The guy was standing in front of glasses girl like he was going to protect her, but his nervous smile kinda killed that notion. The girl was just staring at the other girls as if debating something, her eyes occasionally flicking between them and the boy.

Sighing angrily, Sora grumbled, "What is with this town and bullies?" before walking down the small street towards the group.

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><p>'<em>This is bad,'<em> Mikado worried as the Ganguro Girls surrounded him and Anri. Aloud he said, "Take it easy, we don't want any trouble."

"Too bad, squirt!" The leader girl spat, "Cause today is the day that you and parasite here get what's coming to you!"

'_I need to get Anri out of here!'_ the boy desperately thought, _'Maybe I can distract them long enough for her to get away?'_

Unbeknownst to Mikado, Anri was having similar, but at the same time, drastically different thoughts. To be specific, she was debating whether or not to bring out Saika and end these annoying girls once and for all.

'_But,'_ Anri argue with herself, _'Doing that would reveal what I am to Ryuugamine-san.'_

As she went back and forth over the matter, the bespectacled girl noticed someone entering the side street they were currently standing in. It was a girl, about the same age as Anri was, if not slightly older, dressed in denim shorts and a black t-shirt.

Pausing just inside the mouth of the street, the girl slid a backpack off of her shoulders and placed it gingerly on the ground beside her. Straightening back up, she looked upon the Ganguro Girls with distaste, revealing dual colored eyes: one blue and one green, and sporting a large white bandage on one cheek.

"You're days are up, you _jackass_!" the leader girl sneered, "And this time there's no Izaya or Black Rider to sav-_oowhaa!_ "

No one aside from Anri had noticed the strange girl; her presence had been completely ignored by the others right up until the point where she strode purposely forward and side-kicked the girl nearest to her so that all three fell like dominoes.

Mikado was stunned.

One second the too-tanned girl had been about to kick his ass; the next her and her friends were in a heap on the ground.

Looking left, the boy finally noticed a teenaged girl standing next to him, clutching her left side with her head bowed, as if in pain.

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><p>'<em>Damn,'<em> Sora thought, _'That was stupid. Pulled my bullet wound.'_

As the tourist silently berated herself, the girls she kicked over hopped back onto their feet and began scowling at her.

"Hey bitch! What the hell's your problem!"

Sora glared back at them, causing them to flinch, and growled, "Shut up. I'm in a bad mood right now, so why don't you three _bimbos_ just get lost."

A large vein appeared over the leader's head as she snarled back, "What was that, you lil' bitch? I'll kick your ass for that!" She got into a fighting stance. "Don't think I can't, neither! I've been taking karate! _I'm_ a yellow belt!"

"You tell her, Kasumi!"

"Yeah, kick her ass!"

Listening to the girls' urging their leader on and seeing her pathetic excuse of a stance, Sora chuckled slightly before giving the Ganguro a smile that didn't reach her eyes and said, "Bring it on, _Bitch_-san."

Growling with fury, Kasumi stepped forward and swung a wild hook at the tourist's head.

Sora swayed back to avoid it, but had to stop short as her wounds once again flared up in pain. She managed to move far enough that the punch wound miss her-

-But not her hat.

Almost in slow motion, the Ganguro's fist hit the brim of the cap and wrenched it off of Sora's head, causing it to spiral and land on the ground with a small _fwap_.

Both girls stared at the hat for a moment before Sora clenched her teeth and punched the girl in the stomach with an uppercut. Stepping past the girl's right side, she spun and delivered a left back kick to one of her lackeys before following through and hooking the other girl in the liver with her left.

All three hit the ground nearly simultaneously-

-And after a second Sora nearly joined them.

Doubled over, clutching both of her sides in pain, the strange girl wheezed, "That…. was really… _really_ dumb."

Concerned about their savior, Anri and Mikado stepped towards the girl as the Ganguro Girls picked themselves up and made their escape, throwing back insults every step of the way.

"Hey… are you ok?" Mikado asked, somewhat timidly.

Realizing the boy was talking to her, Sora smiled, straightened up and waved him off.

"Daijoubu, daijoubu! Just pulled my stitches a bit, that's all," she assured him.

Mikado smiled and nodded, "Ah, so desu ka. You just pulled your-STITCHES! You have stitches!"

Now that the couple got a good look at her, they could see that along with a bandage on her left cheek, the girl had gauzed wrapped around different spots on her arms and legs and sported bruises and scratches on nearly even patch of skin they could see.

In short; she looked like she'd just gotten hit by a truck.

"What happened to you?" Anri asked.

Scratching the back of her head as if she was embarrassed, Sora replied, "Not much. Just got into a little fight with a gang last night, is all."

'"_Is all", she says,'_ the couple both thought, sweat drops appearing behind their heads as the tourist cocked her and looked at the sky.

"At least… I _think_ it was last night. I just woke up so it might've been longer. What day is this anyway?" Sora admitted as she looked at the two teenagers.

Mikado and Anri could only stare at her; their mouths open in amazement.

Shaking herself awake, Anri smiled and said, "At any rate, thank you very much for taking care of those girls for us."

Grinning broadly, Sora answered, "No problem!" as she walked to her hat, reaching down for it when she was close enough.

"I can't _stand_ bul-hey!"

Just as she was about to pick up her hat, a random gust of wind sprang up from behind her and carried the cap up into the air and out of the alley towards the main street.

"Get back here!" Sora yelled as she dashed after it, picking up her bag on the way by.

Mikado and Anri were about to chase after her when both of their cellphones chimed at the same time. Stopping to flip them open, both received a message from Celty.

[Looking for a girl with reddish-brown hair, dual colored eyes and covered in bandages. Have you seen her?]

The couple looked at each other for a second before Anri sent a text back to the Dullahan while Mikado ran out of the side street to get the girl.

Celty replied, [Where?] and Anri told her.

Stepping onto the sidewalk, the boy scanned the crowds all around him, but it was too late.

Shinobu Sora was long gone.

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><p>"What-<em>haa<em>-the hell-_haa_-is up-_haa_-with-_haa_-this-_haa_-_wind_?" Sora panted as she followed her hat down one street after another.

She was beginning to lose hope of getting her hat back when she finally arrived at a stretch of street with nobody on it.

Crying out "Yosh!" the tourist sprinted until she was ahead of her hat, turned and jumped as high as she could.

Stretching up her right arm, Sora grasped the brim of her hat in a death grip before coming back down to earth, grinning all the while.

Landing awkwardly, the strange girl stumbled backwards until she ran into someone with an _oof_.

Straightening, Sora turned to apologize to whoever she had run into-

-And found herself being glared at by a blond haired guy with blue glasses and wearing a bartender's outfit.

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><p><strong>AN: Enter: Shizuo Heiwajima!**

**Also, translations.**

**Daijoubu: I'm fine _or_ I'm okay**

**so desu ka: I see (as in you understand)**

**Til next time!**

**Please R&R! ^^**


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